Acts 17: A New Church in Thessalonica
IN LAST WEEK'S LESSON AND ALSO IN TODAY'S MESSAGE WE FIND THE TWO MOST FUNDAMENTAL FOUNDATION STONES OF THE GOSPEL, WHICH ARE THE SAVING OF SOULS AND OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD'S WILL.
WE REMEMBER THAT WE SAW THE DIRECT AND STRONG COMMAND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FORBIDDING PAUL TO GO WHERE HE WANTED TO GO, AND PAUL SENT WHERE GOD WANTED HIM TO GO BY A VISION IN THE NIGHT.,
PAUL'S 2ND MISSIONARY JOURNEY NOW CONTINUES FROM PHILLIPI, WHERE THEY LEFT LUKE & TIMOTHY, THROUGH AMPHIPOLIS AND APPOLONIA INTO THESSALONICA.
IN OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMAND OF JESUS TO TAKE THE GOSPEL FIRST TO THE JEWS, PAUL ENTERS THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE JEWS AND FOR THREE WEEKS BRINGS THE MESSAGE OF JESUS.
SOME JEWS BELIEVED, MOST DID NOT.
MANY GREEKS TOOK THE GOSPEL INTO THEIR HEARTS AND WERE SAVED.
HERE IS AN INTERESTING LESSON WE SEE RARELY IN SCRIPTURE, LUKE ALSO REVEALS THAT MANY WOMEN WERE CONVERTED TO THE LORD.
THE CITY OF THESSALONICA WAS THE LARGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT CITY IN THE ROMAN PROVINCE OF MACEDONIA.
THIS WAS A HARBOR CITY OF ABOUT 250,000 PEOPLE WHERE GREEKS, ROMAN SAILORS, TRAVELERS, TRADESMEN AND BUSINESSMEN FLOURISHED.
THE CITY WAS ON THE MAJOR EAST/WEST HIGHWAY KNOWN AS THE EGNATIAN WAY, RUNNING ALL THE WAY FROM WHAT IS NOW ALBANIA TO BYZANTIUM (NOW ISTANBUL).
SUCH A POSITION ASSURED THE MOVEMENT OF GOODS AS WELL AS THE GOSPEL ACROSS MANY LANDS.
THIS CITY HAD BEEN FOUNDED IN 315 BC BY CASSANDER, ONE OF THE GENERALS FOR ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND HE BECAME KING OF THE CITY AFTER THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER.
IN 42 BC IT WAS MADE A “FREE CITY” JUST AS TARSUS (PAUL'S HOMETOWN) MEANING NO ROMAN TROOPS WERE STATIONED THERE.
THE PERSECUTION THAT HAD CAUSED PAUL TO LEAVE OTHER AREAS CONTINUED IN THESSALONICA.
PAUL'S ENEMIES ACCUSED HIM OF PREACHING ONLY TO CAUSE MUCH CONFUSION, AND OF SLANDER AGAINST ROME.
PAUL'S DEFENSE AGAINST THESE FALSE CHARGES LATER BECAME THE LETTERS TO THE CHURCH IN THE CITY AND THESE LETTERS ARE NOW WHAT WE CALL 1ST & 2ND THESSALONIANS.
IN ADDITION TO PAUL'S WRITTEN DEFENSE IN THESE TWO LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS, HE ALSO SENT SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL TEACHINGS TO THIS CHURCH IN THE LETTERS:
1. MORAL PURITY COMES FROM DISCIPLINED LIVING.
2. THIS CHURCH SHOULD BE PROUD OF:
GENUINE CONVERSIONS
CONTINUAL INCREASING FAITH
GROWING LOVE
HOPE THAT PERSEVERS
ALWAYS SEEKING FIRST THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST
STAYING STRONG, COURAGEOUS, AND READY
3. NOTE ALSO IN THE LETTERS THAT PAUL GIVES HIS MOST DETAILED TEACHING ON THE SECOND COMING AND THE RAPTURE.
FIRST THERE WILL BE A FALLING AWAY.
SECOND THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE REVEALED.
THIRD HE WILL SIT IN GOD'S HOLY TEMPLE DEMANDING TO BE WORSHIPPED AS GOD.
PAUL'S METHOD FOR PLANTING CHURCHES AND THE SEED OF THE GOSPEL WAS SOUND.
HE CHOSE LARGE AREAS TO PREACH & TEACH, AND THEN BY THOSE CONVERTED THE WORD WOULD FLOW TO THE SMALLER TOWNS.
IT WAS A HUB & SPOKE GOSPEL, SOUND IN TECHNIQUE AND SUCCESSFUL.
PROBABLY PAUL PURSUED HIS TRADE OF TENT MAKING DURING EACH WEEK IN THESSALONICA AND THEN FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE SABBATHS HE ENTERED THE SYNAGOGUE TO PREACH JESUS.
PAUL FOUND READY EARS & HEARTS AMONG THE GENTILE MEN AND THE WOMEN BUT THE RESISTANCE TO THE GOSPEL WAS STRONG AMONG THE JEWS.
THE JEWS STILL WERE SETTLED INTO THEIR BELIEF THAT A TRUE MESSIAH WOULD DEFEAT THE ROMANS, FREE THE CHOSEN PEOPLE, AND WOULD NEVER BE PUT TO DEATH IN THE HUMILIATION OF A CROSS EXECUTION.
PAUL'S MESSAGE OF UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE TO ALL, FREE & BOND, JEW & GREEK, MALE & FEMALE, ALL BEING ONE IN CHRIST FOUND READY ACCEPTANCE AMONG MANY AND THE CHURCH WAS BEING PLANTED AMONG THOSE WHO HEARD AND BELIEVED.
SO THERE WAS A GREAT IMPACT ON THE CITY OF THESSALONICA.
THIS WAS GOD IN SPIRIT MOVING THROUGH THE WORDS OF HIS CHOSEN PREACHERS TO CONVICT HEARTS TO ACCEPT HIS GRACE TO SALVATION.
BUT SATAN WAS WELL AWARE OF THE NEW AND POSITIVE SPIRIT MOVING AMONG THE PEOPLE.
HE MOVED JUST AS QUICKLY TO DO ALL HE COULD TO DETRACT FROM OR DIMINISH THE WORK OF THE LORD'S CHOSEN ONES.
VERSES 5-9 TEACHES US OF HOW SATAN WORKED AGAINST THE NEWLY PLANTED CHURCH.
NOTICE THAT THE JEWS COULD NOT IMMEDIATELY LAY HANDS ON PAUL & SILAS SO THEY DRAGGED JASON, WHO HAD RECEIVED THEM, TO THE AUTHORITIES.
TWO CHARGES WERE MADE:
CONFUSION & DISCORD ARE BEING BROUGHT BY THESE MEN.
THESE MEN ARE ACTING AGAINST CAESAR, OFFERING A NEW KING NAMED JESUS.
THE PATTERN HERE IS NOT NEWS.
THE JEALOUS JEWS COULD NOT EVER WIN AGAINST THE POWER OF THE HOLY WORD OF THE LORD SO THEY TURN TO VIOLENCE AND PERSECUTION (THE SAME WAY THEY WORKED AGAINST CHRIST).
THE MATTER WAS FINALLY SETTLED BY THE AUTHORITIES TAKING SECURITY FROM JASON, MEANING THAT HE PAID A FINE IN ORDER TO ALLOW THESE PREACHERS TO ESCAPE THE UNJUST CHARGES.
PAUL HAD TO PROMISE TO LEAVE AND NOT RETURN.
WE SEE THIS UNDERSTANDING IN 1ST THESS 2:17-18:
“WITH GREAT DESIRE WE WANTED TO SEE YOU AGAIN FACE TO FACE BUT SATAN HINDERED US”
PAUL & SILAS MOVED ONWARD TO BEREA, A SMALL MOUNTAIN CITY ABOUT 60 MILES AWAY AND BEGAN TO TEACH THERE IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE.
ACTS 17:11 TEACHES US THAT THESE JEWS WERE MORE RESPONSIVE AND NOBLE AND RECEIVED THE WORD WITH EAGERNESS.
BUT 13-15 TEACHES THAT THE JEWS OF THESSALONICA NOW CAME TO BEREA AND STIRRED UP DISCORD AMONG THE EAGER BELIEVERS JUST AS THEY HAD IN THESSALONICA.
THESE WERE THE HOUNDS OF HELL, LED ONWARD BY SATAN TO TRY TO DESTROY THE WORK DONE FOR THE LORD IN PAUL'S EFFORT TO PLANT ADDITIONAL CHURCHES OF THE GOSPEL.
TO AVOID VIOLENCE, THE FRIENDS OF PAUL SENT HIM ONWARD TO ATHENS, AND SILAS & TIMOTHY STAYED BEHIND TO CONTINUE THE WORK.
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PAUL LIKELY DID NOT PLAN TO REMAIN LONG IN ATHENS AS HE SENT FOR SILAS & TIMOTHY TO JOIN HIM THERE.
IT SEEMS THE PLAN WAS FOR THE THREE OF THEM TO MOVE ONWARD TO CORINTH.
WHILE WAITING IN ATHENS PAUL SAW A CITY FILLED WITH IDOLS.
HE DEBATED WITH THE PHILOSOPHERS, THE DEVOUT THAT WERE FOUND AS WELL AS THE JEWS FROM THE SYNAGOGUE.
PAUL WAS DOING WHAT SIGHTSEERS NORMALLY DO, WALKING AROUND THE CITY, SEEING WHAT HE COULD SEE, AND MEETING THOSE HE FOUND WILLING TO ENGAGE HIM IN CONVERSATION.
HERE IN ATHENS HE SAW THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS WHICH WAS LARGER THAN THE PARTHENON:
104 COLUMNS EACH 56 FEET TALL
MADE OF SOLID MARBLE
315 FEET LONG AND 131 FEET WIDE
HOLDING A 30 FOOT STATUE OF ZEUS
CONSIDERED ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
REMEMBER ATHENS WAS KNOWN THEN AS THE HOME OF THE GREAT THINKERS, SUCH AS PERICLES, SOCRATES, PLATO, ARISTOTLE, & EURIPIDES.
400 YEARS BEFORE HAD BEEN THE GOLDEN AGE WHICH WAS BROUGHT FORWARD BY THESE THINKERS WHOSE IDEAS STILL ARE STUDIED EVEN TODAY IN OUR GREAT UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
THERE WERE THEATERS, MARKETS, TEMPLES TO OVER 30,000 GODS, AND BEAUTIFUL GREEK ARCHITECTURE.
LUKE TELLS US THAT THE SPIRIT OF PAUL WAS MOVED WHEN HE SAW ALL THESE THINGS AND HE BECAME PROVOKED AT WHAT HE SAW.
HE SAW A GREAT CITY GIVEN OVER TO IDOLATRY WITH EACH STATUE OF A GOD TWISTING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PEOPLE AND BELIEF IN IMMORALITY.
THESE PEOPLE WERE ENSLAVED TO FALSE WORSHIP AND HAD BEEN FOR GENERATIONS SO PAUL VIEWED THIS CITY AS FERTILE GROUND FOR THE WORD OF TRUTH & LIFE ETERNAL.
THE CITY WAS UNDER THE BLACK DARKNESS OF SUPERSTITION.
SO PAUL RESOLVED TO BRING THE WORD TO THIS LOST CITY AND HE BEGAN TO PREACH JESUS CHRIST.
FIRST, HE WENT TO THE SYNAGOGUE, AS WAS HIS CUSTOM.
THERE SEEMED TO BE LITTLE EFFECT WITH THE JEWS WHO WERE STILL ONLY WILLING TO FOLLOW THE LAW.
SECOND, HE WENT TO CITIZENS IN THE MARKETPLACES AND THESE WERE IN TOTAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE FALSE IDOLS THEY HAD KNOWN FOR GENERATIONS.
THEY WERE GRIPPED BY THE FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY THAT ALWAYS COMES WITH FALSE GODS.
THIRD HE BEGAN TO SPEAK TO THE PHILOSOPHERS WHO FELT THEMSELVES ABOVE THE IDOL WORSHIP OF THE MANY FALSE GODS BUT WHO ALSO OFFERED ONLY PAGAN PHILOSOPHY AS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO THE GODS OF WOOD & STONE.
THE EPICUREANS WERE ATHEISTS, AND DENIED GOD EVEN EXISTS.
THE STOICS WERE PANTHEISTS, FOLLOWING A LEADER NAMED ZENO WHO TAUGHT THAT GOD WAS IN EVERY ROCK & TREE.
AS PAUL SPOKE THEY LOOKED UPON HIM AS A BABBLER NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BUT WERE TAKEN BY HIS MANNER AS IT WAS SOMETHING NEW THEY HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE,
THEY ACTUALLY THOUGHT PAUL WAS BRINGING A MESSAGE OF TWO GODS, ONE NAMED JESUS AND ONE NAMED RESURRECTION.
PAUL'S MESSAGE WAS THE PURE GOSPEL, CHRIST FROM GOD, MINISTERING TO MAN, TAKING MAN'S SINS UPON HIMSELF, CRUCIFIED, AND RISEN.
AS PAUL STOOD IN THEIR MIDST, HE TOLD THEM HE SAW THAT THEY WERE GOD FEARING AS SO MANY GODS WERE WORSHIPPED.
PAUL TOLD THESE PEOPLE HE HAD SEEN AN ALTAR TO AN UNKNOWN GOD, AND HE DECIDED TO USE THAT ALTAR TO BRING HIS MESSAGE BY TEACHING THAT THIS UNKNOWN GOD IS JEHOVAH AND HIS SON AND OUR SAVIOR IS JESUS.
HE TOLD THEM THIS WAS THE TRUE GOD WHO HAD MADE THE WORLD AND ALL THINGS IN IT. HE MADE MAN.
IN ALL OF THE OTHER GODS WORSHIPPED IN ATHENS, MAN MADE GOD.
JEHOVAH IS THE MAKER, NOT THE MADE.
THE FALSE GODS OF ATHENS WERE DISTANT FROM THE PEOPLE, LIVING SUPPOSEDLY ON MOUNTAIN TOPS.
PAUL TAUGHT THAT THE TRUE GOD IS NOT DISTANT BUT IS LIVING WITHIN US AFTER SALVATION AND NEVER LEAVES OR FORSAKES US.
THE LESSON OF PAUL IN ATHENS IS STILL PURE FOR US TODAY.
SO MANY WORSHIP THINGS AND CREATE THEIR OWN FALSE GODS WHOM THEY UPHOLD AS WORTHY.
THESE ARE MONEY, FAME, IMMORALITY, AND MAN MADE THINGS.
PAUL TAUGHT THE PEOPLE OF ATHENS THAT MAN HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD GOD.
THAT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO HEAR, ACCEPT AND BELIEVE AND TO WORSHIP ONLY THE TRUE LORD AFTER REPENTING OF ALL OTHER WORSHIPS.
SOME THERE BECAME BELIEVERS AND SOME MOCKED PAUL.
BUT THROUGH THESE FEW WHO BELIEVED AND WERE SAVED, A NEW CHURCH WAS PLANTED IN ATHENS AND IT GREW AND PROSPERED.
THE LIGHT OF THE LORD ONCE MORE SHONE BRIGHT & PURE.
NEXT WEEK WE SEE THE EFFORTS OF THE MISSIONARIES CONTINUE AS THEY MOVE ONWARD TO ESTABLISH A NEW CHURCH IN CORINTH.
