God's Unstoppable Mission, Part 6: Thessalonica

Acts 17 and verses 1 down to verse 15.

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollina, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.

This, Jesus, I am proclaiming to you is the Christ, he said.

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

But the Jews were jealous, so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.

They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting,

These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here.

And Jason has welcomed them into his house.

They are defying Caesar decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.

When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.

They put Jason and the others on bail and let them go.

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.

On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

The Vibraans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians.

They received a message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.

The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

The men who escorted Paul brought them to Athens and then left some instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Amen.

It's funny, two people can, or a few people can listen to the same piece of music or read the same poem or the same piece of artwork and have completely different perspectives on it.

Last week I was in class and I thought I would share with a class a new song I'd heard.

It was a wonderful song. I would listen to it all week, so I stuck it on before class started.

A few of the guys in class tried to smile and pretend it was okay, but I could see they weren't that bothered at all.

Same for music, same for poetry.

One person can read a poem and see such beautiful verses,

and the other person think it's just some pointless rhyming words that have no real meaning.

So much of what we see and experience in life can be subjective,

can be down to our own personal tastes, our culture, our upbringing, and a thousand other influences.

But when it comes, as we see this evening, down to the gospel, there is no place for us to be subjective.

There's no place for us to say, well, that's true for you, but it's not quite true for me.

Or that makes sense to you perhaps, but not for me.

Or that's what you believe, or that's your truth.

We'll see as we go on through these verses that there's no room for that kind of thinking when it comes to the gospel.

The gospel requires a simple response.

The gospel requires us to respond to it.

There's no place for sitting on the fence.

So last week we left with Paul and Silas coming out of prison.

They went to the house of Lydia.

Then they encouraged the brothers and sisters there.

And now we join them in chapter 17, arriving in Thessalonica.

They've traveled roughly about 30 miles southwest.

And then another 25, 30 miles directly south on one of the Roman highways.

And here they are arriving in Thessalonica.

Now when we read perhaps verse 1, we might be asking, why do they pass through?

Why do they just skip these other two cities we have mentioned?

It's a question there's quite a bit of debate about.

Of course we have no solid answer.

Some say that perhaps there was no synagogue in these towns, so they moved through them.

But whatever the reason is, it seems they were making a beeline, a straight way to Thessalonica.

Thessalonica.

This town had around roughly 220,000 people in it or in the area.

It was a capital of the area.

It was a provincial capital.

A great trading city we know from other sources.

A great place of wealth.

A great place of fame.

A great place where you could come and see culture and trade and make your fortune or lose your fortune.

In this section from verses 1 down to verse 15, we have these, perhaps we could say, case studies of what happens when the gospel is shared in a place.

As we'll see, when the gospel is shared, it always has an effect.

Even as we sit here this evening and listen to this account in Acts, as we hear the gospel this evening, it is having an effect on every single one of us.

Perhaps there are some this evening who as of yet don't believe.

Well, as you hear the gospel just now, perhaps this is the evening.

This is the night when you come to understand and come to see and come to know Jesus as your Savior.

Perhaps you're here just now as a Christian.

As we hear the gospel this evening, we grow in our love and grow in our praise for our God and for our Savior.

Sometimes, as folks listen to the gospel, they turn even further away from God.

Either way, the gospel always has an effect.

And as we look at what takes place in Thessalonica and later in Berea, I want us to have three very simple, very loose questions in mind.

What did they say?

What did they do?

And then what happened?

As for a short time, as we look at what took place in these two towns, let's think about what happened then.

Let's think about how the experience of Paul and his companions in these towns, how that still speaks to us, even here in Becliffe.

A few thousand years away, a few thousand miles removed.

So first of all, Paul and Silas in Thessalonica, then verses 1, excuse me, verses 1 down to verse 9.

So first of all, what did they do?

What are we told about this impressive city?

Does scripture tell us about its wealth?

Does scripture tell us about its great trade routes?

About its great mixed cultures and religions?

About its fame?

About its size?

Scripture jumps past all these things.

What does it tell us?

It tells us there's a Jewish synagogue there.

It tells us that Paul and Silas and the companions, they're not there for the sights and the sounds of this place.

They're not there to adventure and explore.

They're there on a mission.

They're with one purpose in mind.

They are going to share the gospel in this place.

They're going to share the good news that the Savior, the Messiah, that he has come to those who are still waiting, desperately waiting for his return.

It's important for us in verse 2 to note that this was Paul's custom.

As he went to these towns, as he visited these places, it was his custom to go to the synagogue, to a place where the Jews were gathered, and to share the gospel.

This is not just some one-off thing he decided to do.

This is what he did.

He went to where he knew the people would be, and he shared the gospel with them.

So what does he do in the synagogue?

Does Paul use his own years of reasoning?

Does Paul use his own experience in debate and discussion?

Does he engage in three weeks of philosophical, theological debate with these men?

Then, what does Paul do?

Well, we see in verse 3, verse 2, well, verse 2, verse 3, he reasons with them from the scriptures.

Quite simply, he opens, or he turns to the scriptures of a scroll, as it were, and he reasons with them.

So what does Paul say?

We have that in verses 3 down to verse 4.

Verses 3 and verse 4 helpfully summarize what Paul discussed these three weeks in the synagogue.

He both explains and he proves what the Messiah had to endure.

What the Messiah had to do.

And then he makes this incredible fact, this incredible statement we have quoted here,

that Paul told them.

This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.

He is the Messiah.

The one you're waiting for.

He has come.

He has called Jesus.

Let me tell you all about him.

The one who has come to save his people.

Don't wait any longer.

He has come.

And his name is Jesus.

Paul, of course, was an apostle.

Paul had many years of learning.

But he knew the word of God was, of course, far, far superior to anything else he could offer these people.

Well, Scripture, God's word, is the basis of Paul's argument as he discusses with the Thessalonian Jews.

Now, of course, Paul does, even as we'll see God willing next week, he brings in sometimes cultural references.

He brings in poetry even when he's in Athens.

But the basis and the main thrust of this argument is always Scripture.

Always from God's word.

And the reality is, if the gospel is not shared with the word of God at its core,

then it's being shared without power.

Also good for us to note that Paul was here for three weeks in this synagogue.

Three weeks he shared with these people the good news.

Sometimes it's so distressing for us as we share the gospel with friends and family.

As we share it and we share it and nothing happens.

As we keep sharing the gospel and we're saying, why do you not believe this wonderful message?

It's good for us to remember that even if there's no immediate outside recognition of the gospel,

when the gospel is shared, like we said, seeds are always planted.

Paul spends three weeks here sharing the gospel.

It takes time sometimes, but we strive to do it nonetheless.

So what did he do?

He shared the gospel.

He went to the synagogue and he used God's word.

What did he say?

Well, he describes who the Messiah was, what had to happen to him.

Then he tells them who the Messiah was.

He tells them all about Jesus.

So what was the effect of all this?

We have that in verses four, roughly down to verse nine.

But first of all, we see in verse four, if you look down with me,

in verse four, we see first of all a positive response.

We see that it was not completely in vain at all that, in fact, people were listening to the gospel.

People were listening to the message that Paul shared.

They considered what he said and they had believed the message.

In fact, it tells us that a large number believed.

A large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

Very often the gospel, at least in Greek culture, was dismissed as something for the poor folks.

Something for the peasants, perhaps, but not for us.

These peasants, these poor folks who believe whatever you tell them to,

this gospel is for them.

But here we see who believes.

Prominent people.

Prominent women.

Well-respected people.

Here we see these new believers were devout.

They were well-respected men.

Well-respected women.

The gospel, of course, makes no distinction.

The gospel makes no distinction between poor or rich.

It doesn't matter our social or cultural background.

It doesn't matter how much money we have in the bank right now.

It doesn't matter what kind of family we come from.

The gospel is for all who will hear.

My friend, when we share the gospel, we're not just throwing out our words to the wind,

hoping something will stick occasionally.

When we share the gospel, whether in individual situations,

whether we share it to our family, to our friends,

whether we share it perhaps in the workplace,

whenever the gospel is shared, we're doing something that is incredible.

We're sharing a message that is powerful beyond what we can ever truly understand.

It's the very living words of God.

The very living words of our sovereign God.

Just because we are so frail.

And how often is it true that when we try and share the gospel,

we realize that what we've been doing,

that our wording of it, that the way we said it,

that was so silly, why did I say that?

Why did I do that?

Why did I word like that?

And we can be despairing at times

of just how awful we are as servants to God.

But reality is, the power of the gospel, of course, doesn't come from us.

Paul's not sharing the gospel here under his own authority.

He's sharing the gospel pure and simple.

We could say, well, we only have a snapshot here of what happened in Thessalonica.

How can we be sure that the message that Paul shared

had any real lasting effect in this place?

Are we not perhaps presuming a bit too much here?

Well, of course, we're not.

We have the wonderful evidence, the gospel,

the wonderful truth that was shared to these people.

The effect it had, it was lasting.

The incredible effect it had, it lasted.

So much so that we know that this small gathering of believers

became a vibrant church, a living church,

a hardworking church, even in the midst of a tough, tough situation.

These people were serving, living in a town that had no care for the gospel,

in an area that hated the gospel,

as we see from previous and coming chapters.

These people were living in a land that had no time for gospel message.

But yet we know that these small gatherings,

this small gathering of Christians, of new Christians,

that God sustained them.

And that they became a church.

They became a gathering of God's people,

living and sharing the gospel.

And we know that because Paul, of course, wrote two letters to them,

1 and 2 Thessalonians.

And in the opening statement of his first letter to this new church,

Paul says,

1 Thessalonians verses 2 down to 3,

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,

your labor prompted by love,

and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This small gathering of new Christians.

They were showing their faith.

They were working hard from love.

And they were enduring.

Showing endurance inspired by their faith in their Lord Jesus.

An incredible description of this congregation of people.

Of this small church in this troubled town.

It's a description we should all be striving for as Christians,

and even as a church here.

That we would be working and laboring out of love.

We'd be enduring because of our inspiration of who we're enduring for.

And that we would work all we do based on faith.

We have a picture in these letters of a vibrant church.

A living, working, serving church.

All because the gospel was shared with them in that synagogue.

Of course, as always, when the gospel is shared,

the response is not always positive.

We see that, of course, yes, a good crowd had believed.

But, of course, what then happens?

Well, those who didn't believe and those who didn't agree to the gospel,

they didn't just voice their opinions, then move on.

Well, instead, they form a mob.

They form a riot.

They gather up these, in verse 5,

bad characters from the market.

A mob is formed.

And they go, of course, and they drag out Jason.

He's guilty of association.

What caused this anger?

Well, we see again in verse 5.

Jealousy.

The Jewish authority, they were jealous.

They were losing control, perhaps.

Losing control over people.

They lost prominent people.

They lost good people.

They lost these prominent women.

And now, Paul's still preaching this gospel.

And they're watching their world change.

And they cannot handle that.

So they form this angry crowd.

And, of course, they accuse Paul and Silas and Jason,

all the Christians, with this wonderful accusation.

Accusation, the second half of verse 6 and verse 7.

They say,

These men who have caused trouble all over the world

have now come here.

And Jason has welcomed them into his house.

They are all defying Caesar decrees,

saying that there is another king,

one called Jesus.

Some translations have this as these men

who have turned the world upside down.

It's the same difference in the end.

The same sense comes through.

These men, they're ruining things.

They're really spoiling how we do things here.

This is not how this city works.

This is not how we work.

They have caused trouble.

Their message is causing problems for us.

You can almost hear the distress in their voices.

These men have come to our city,

and look what they've done.

They've come and shared this message.

And these people, they believe them,

and they've left us.

And if we let this carry on anymore,

what will happen?

They've come and they've dared declare

there is another king.

Of course, this is the cornerstone

of all our sin,

of all our rebellion against God.

We make ourselves kings.

We make ourselves the pinnacle of all things.

And the gospel comes in,

and it shows us that we are not.

The gospel comes in like it did in this town,

and it shows us there is another king,

and that king is certainly not you or me.

Kind of echoed roughly in the words of Psalm 2,

where it says,

discussing contrasting earth

and humanity to Jesus and his eternal rule.

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together

against the Lord,

and against his anointed,

saying,

let us break their bonds in pieces,

and cast away their cords from us.

We want to be free.

We don't want another king over us.

Just like these folks in 5th Leonica.

They couldn't bear the fact

there is another king.

This message Paul was sharing,

it did not make sense.

They didn't want to hear it.

In many ways,

they're just repeating, of course,

the words of John 9, verse 15.

John 9:15

The crowd at the trial of Jesus.

Pilate says to them,

what did Pilate say?

Here is your king.

And the crowd answers,

away with him.

Away with him.

Crucify him.

Shall I crucify your king?

Pilate asks.

We have no king but Caesar.

They replied.

If we're honest,

then we're speaking very honestly.

If we're being true to ourselves,

in many ways,

is this not how we view ourselves?

I review the gospel.

I do not want anyone else

ruling over me.

I will not have Jesus

as my king.

Get rid of him.

Take him away.

Crucify him.

I want nothing to do with this man.

Of course, the reality is,

whatever we say,

whatever we think,

he is still king.

He is still,

right now,

reigning

as

king.

And we either serve him this evening

as his servant,

or we fight against him

as his enemy,

as a fight

we will never

win.

just like what happened here.

The accusation,

it was not wrong.

The gospel

was changing things.

The gospel

was turning this place

upside down.

And the gospel

will change your life.

It's not so much

turning it upside down,

but it's turning it

the way it's supposed

to actually be.

The gospel

comes and it

rearranges our lives.

It rearranges

who we are

to what we're

made

to be.

Let this be

the world's

accusation

against us.

The accusation

we made here

against

these guys

in Thessalonica.

Against Paul

and Silas

and the companions.

These men.

They've turned

the world upside down.

These Christians.

these Christians.

They come

and they mess

things up.

These Christians

come and they say

there is

another way.

These Christians,

their message,

it changes

people's lives.

It changes

and it challenges

our views

on wealth,

on reality,

on sexuality,

whatever else

the issues

of the day

are for us today.

If people

are going to

talk about us,

let it only

be that the

gospel we

share

is changing

lives.

So they

leave this

place.

They leave

Thessalonica

both having

seen

incredible fruit

but also

seeing opposition

to the gospel.

So then we see

of course Jason

and the believers

there having

to

their own

bail

and they

pay the bond

so Paul

and Silas

can leave.

They're sent

away of course

then in verse

10

down

to Berea.

They travel

50 miles

south of

Thessalonica

and they arrive

in Berea.

It's just in the

foothills

of Olympian

mountains.

Very briefly,

very, very

briefly in fact

we see

because it's

a repeat

pattern

of what

happened

in Thessalonica.

First of all

of course

they go to

the synagogue

and they

share

the message

there.

But what's

different in Berea?

We find

out that

these Bereans

in verse

11

scripture

calls them

noble

in character.

Their character

was more

noble than

those

in Thessalonica.

So why

were they

more noble?

Are they

more noble

because they

listened

better?

Are they

more noble

because they

were nicer

to Paul

and Silas?

Well of course

we know that's

not true.

The word

tells us

they were

more noble

firstly

because they

received the

gospel

with eagerness

but then

because they

took the

time to

examine

the scriptures

to test

what they

heard

against the

reality of

God's word.

Testing to

see if what

Paul is

saying

is it

really

true?

And they

say well

Paul was

an apostle

that's seen

Jesus, been

commissioned by

Jesus, had

done great

things.

Why do they

dare question

what he said

to them?

How could they

not believe his

word?

Surely they

were more

than enough.

God

said to

you.

I stand

before you

just now.

I am a

boy from

Hebrides.

I was

going to be

preached in

this building

very much

aware of it.

Very often

my professors

are listening

into my

sermons and

if you ask

them after

the service

I'm sure

they could

tell you

just how

many and

where my

faults and

failings are

in terms of

knowledge and

understanding.

I could show

you my test

results and

pass marks and

you'd see very

quickly that I

don't quite

measure up in

terms of many

areas of

understanding or

intelligence.

So perhaps

it would be

fair enough to

question my

knowledge,

question my

understanding.

But Paul,

the apostle

Paul, if he

was here would

you dare question

his message?

Well the brains

had no

issue doing

so.

They tested

all his

words against

scripture and

that's the

wonder of

the word of

God.

All other

things will

fail.

My words

will fail.

Every person

who stands

here, their

words are

very much

fallible.

But scripture

has no fault

and it will

never cease

to be true.

That's what

separates

Christianity

from so many

other religions

and cults.

They tell you

don't dig

around, don't

search it out,

just believe us,

listen to us,

it's fine,

don't research

whatever you do.

But we know

that the

Bible is true

and because the

Bible is true,

we can say,

look into it,

dig into it,

search it,

and you'll only

find more and

more how true

it actually is.

When I was a

kid, I got a

big lump of

fool's gold.

I was going to

look up the

actual name of

it, but I

forgot to do

that.

Fool's gold,

I'm sure you

all have seen

it, it's a

lump of rock

that looks like

gold.

And many a

miner and

prospector over

the years has

lost fortunes

assuming it was

gold and digging

it out and

realizing afterwards

it's just a

nice gold,

shiny rock.

When you place

fool's gold

beside actual

gold, it takes

all of two

seconds to

realize what's

real and

what is

not.

When you put

the word of

God, the

truth of God,

the reality of

the gospel up

against any

other reality,

any other

truth, they

will begin to

fall and

falter so

quickly.

The Brains

recognize that.

They put

Paul's words

to the test.

They use

scripture as

their ultimate

source of

authority.

Let that be

true for every

one of us here

this evening.

Let our

ultimate source

of truth come

from God's

word.

Help each one

of us be as

honorable and

noble as

these Brains

that we would

see God's

word as the

ultimate source

of all our

reality, of

all our

truth.

So what is

the effect in

Berea?

Well, initially

we have the

same glorious

result.

Look with me

please to

verse 12.

We see many

of the Jews

believed as

did also again

a number of

prominent Greek

women and

many Greek

men.

A wonderful

result.

More people

believe in the

gospel, more

people calling

Jesus their

savior.

Again, a

new church is

being formed in

as early

stages as

growing here.

Then of

course we

also see

again opposition

pops up.

Not satisfied

with having

them kicked

out of their

own town,

these guys

from Thessalonica.

They've traveled

down, they've

made the effort

to come down

and to find

Paul and

to find Silas

and to

start, to

attempt to

start another

riot.

don't be

surprised for

a second

when you

face opposition

for your

faith.

When you

face opposition

to the

great gospel

you are

sharing,

when you

see the

church

locally,

the church

in our

nation

facing

opposition,

when God

willing,

if we're

granted more

years,

when we

see more

opposition

growing,

don't be

surprised.

It's

nothing new

for the

church,

nothing new.

In fact,

we know

that Jesus

promised it

would happen

in Matthew

5 and

verse 11.

So we

see happening

again and

again in Acts

again and

again in the

early church,

so we know

to be happening

right now

across the

world,

the gospel

faces so

much

opposition.

And if we

were relying

on ourselves,

if we were

relying on

our hopes,

and if we're

just hoping

it was all

true,

then how

sad a

situation

would we

have.

As we

see the

gospel

attacked,

as we

see the

gospel

under

pressure,

we'd have

no hope

whatsoever

that it

would survive.

But here

we are in

Edinburgh,

thousands of

miles away,

thousands of

years later

from this

place,

and here

we are

worshipping

Jesus.

He will

keep this

church.

he

protect

his

people.

Just as

he did

in these

pages,

in these

verses,

nothing has

changed for

us today.

Paul,

Silas,

and their

companions,

they shared

the good

news.

They did

so faithfully,

and they did

so most

importantly,

using

scripture.

They shared

it in the

midst of

trials of

tough,

tough

situations,

but God

blessed that

to further

his church.

God blessed

that to

grow his

church.

What

encouragement

that should

be for us

this evening,

we strive,

we work,

we share

the gospel,

we pray for

it,

we pray for

our friends,

we pray for

our family

members,

we pray that

they would

come to know

the gospel,

we share

the gospel

with them,

we pray for

them,

and so on.

But we rely

on God,

on his word,

and he will

use that

for his

glory.

He will

not be

defeated.

His purposes

and his plans

like we see

in his verses,

God is weaving

all these things

together.

The gospel

was shared.

Opposition

came up,

yes,

but the gospel

was shared.

Churches

were started,

new Christians

believed.

God's purposes,

God's plan

will not be

stopped.

That's our

comfort here

this evening.

As we go

on through

our lives,

as we carry

on serving

and seeking

to serve God

in various ways

in our homes,

in our places

of work,

in our city,

just as Paul

and Silas

based all

they had

on the word,

that would

be true

for us

also.

And we do

pray and we

do know

that God

will bless

his word

wherever it

should.

and we......

We'll...

says the

And we...

ask the

picture

of the

сов

and then we

say it

and we

can be