This Jesus we proclaim!
Walking through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted
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This Jesus we proclaim!
This Jesus we proclaim!
This Jesus we proclaim!
, 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.
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.
God has a longstanding habit of calling those he loves into difficult situations. God called Abraham to leave his home and wander around in foreign lands among strangers who, as far as he knew, might kill him on sight. God called meek ole' Moses and his cowardly big brother to stand before the most powerful ruler in the known world and demand the release of the Hebrew people. God called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to defy the Babylonian King's idolatrous command and subsequently be thrown into a fiery furnace — just as Daniel was tossed into a den of lions after God called him to keep praying despite King Darius' decree.
The Scriptures are chock-full of stories about God's many suffering servants. But they all point beyond themselves to the beautiful, bloody story of the long Suffering Servant who was to come (). This is the story of the gospel! That God's own Son stepped away from his eternal glory to live a perfectly righteous life in human form so that he could gift that righteousness to wicked sinners, and take the sins of those wicked men upon himself and allow God's wrath to crush him instead of them. Christ suffered more intensely than any person ever has or ever will — and he did all of this according to the will of his Father (). God called Jesus to the ultimate discomfort so that we, the undeserving recipients of his mercy, could escape eternal discomfort.
So this means we're off the hook, right? The Lord led lots of Old Covenant folks into uncomfortable situations. But those of us who have received the pardoning benefits of the New Covenant in Christ's blood don't have to worry about him calling us to discomfort, do we? Jesus paid the price. His chastisement brought us peace. The ferocious, fatherly love of God has been irrevocably unleashed on us in the gospel. So it logically follows that life should be smooth sailing from here on out, doesn't it?
Some suppose this to be the case. However, God doesn't call Christians to just be cloud floaters as much as he calls us to cross carriers (). Christ himself commands us to embrace the difficulty and discomfort that accompany a flesh-denying, Kingdom-proclaiming life. It's true that God will one day apply the fullness of Christ's redemption across the board. The toil, struggle, and pain that characterize our present experience will be crushed to death by the glory of Jesus as he is revealed from Heaven. But until that day comes, Christians must embrace God's good decree that we should "suffer with [Jesus] in order that we might be glorified with him" ().
Or do we?
Let's be honest —We don't like pain. We don't like struggle. We don't like difficulty. So we avoid these things at all costs — sometimes even at the cost of disobedience! Why do things like sexual sin, materialism, and missional apathy plague the American Church? Because we love it, because we adore our fleshly comforts; more that we love God! We want to satisfy our bodies with every carnal pleasure we crave, so we defy God's command for purity. We want to gather into our laps all the shiny trinkets and toys we can get our hands on, so we ignore God's insistence that we live contently and to give generously. We cringe at the thought of awkwardness or tension, so we don't speak the gospel to our friends whose earthly lives and eternal souls are being destroyed by sin.
Denying ourselves, picking up our crosses, and following Jesus would just be too uncomfortable — so in many cases, we just don't do it.
Children of God we need a change of perspective!
We need to look at God's call to costly obedience differently. Why? Because we sadly upon the difficulty, pain, or discomfort obedience brings instead of the blessings it will surely bring. I'm not talking about getting earthly rewards in exchange for following the rules — I'm talking about experiencing more of God as we submit to his leading! Every time God calls us to do something difficult or scary, he promises us something incredible: that he will be there with us. Whether it's something as simple as opening the Bible every morning or something as dramatic as moving our family across the world to live in a village void of the many luxuries we currently enjoy, God promises to manifest himself to us as we obey ().
God is a good Father. He doesn't usher us toward situations that cause us discomfort simply because he wants to make our lives hard. He ushers us toward uncomfortable obedience so that we can experience his power, comfort, and joy — and be conformed to the likeness of Jesus as we do! God's goal is to transform us into heavenly-minded people who cling to him in childlike dependence and bow to him in worshipful submission, like Jesus did. He wants to pull us away from the slavery of self-preservation and bring us into the freedom of abandoning fleshly comfort for his glory and the good of others, like Jesus did. When our good God calls us to difficult circumstances, he is prying us away from cheap happiness and inviting us into deep and vibrant joy — the same joy that motivated Jesus to embrace the Cross ()!
Let us pray…
In we focuses again on Paul’s synagogue ministry, and Paul’s once again being drawn by God into uncomfortable obedience. We see here how God highlights the contrasting responses to the gospel of Jesus Christ in Thessalonica and Berea.
(1) This Jesus we proclaim to you is the Christ
Paul’s synagogue ministry essentially involves arguing from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead and that He was the Christ. Let pick us the conversation at the beginning, “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia…”
Amphipolis and Apollonia were on the way to their God’s given destination but they were not God’s given destination.
Both cities were in the same approximant area but they were not the city God appointed for the proclamation of the truth about His Son Jesus, who is the Christ. Paul and his companions travelled west along the Via Egnatia, this was the road that I told you about three weeks ago, a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. A road that runs from Illyricum to Macedonia, a road that still exits today, in some places in disrepair, but without any potholes. This road was the main route from Rome to the east, and passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia. Amphipolis was the capital of the first district of Macedonia in which Philippi was situated, about 30 miles west-southwest. Apollonia was further inland, a day’s journey beyond Amphipolis. It is likely that these were the places ‘where the travellers spent successive nights, dividing the journey into three stages of about 30, 27 and 35 miles a piece. Both Amphipolis and Apollonia was a day’s walk from each other but neither city had enough Jewish men to form a synagogue, so God set for then the destination of Thessalonica.
The text goes on to tells, “… they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews…” Finally, they came to Thessalonica, the most populated city in the region, capital of the second district of Macedonia and the seat of the Roman provincial government from 146 bc. It was made a free city by the Romans in 42 bc, with the rights of self-government. Luke’s tells us that there was a Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica there of the Jews. Here, in this area that was a greater male presence that in Philippi and more than enough Jewish men who were the heads of their household living there to organize a synagogue for worship. Verse 2a states that, “…And Paul went in in, as was his custom…” Paul always took the opportunity to preach in the synagogue first and reason with his Jewish brothers and sisters in the synagogue concerning Jesus. Luke does not allow us to forget that this was Paul’s custom, wherever possible, was to preach to Jews first.
In , “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The text tells us that Paul did not just speak to them on one occasion but on three consecutive Sabbath days. The text says … and on three Sabbaths days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
Pastor what does it mean to reason with someone from the Scriptures? It means to base all your arguments on the solid, sufficient and sovereign word of God. When you reason with someone from the Scriptures you both agree that the Scriptures are to only standard to base any truth upon. This is same argument that is shown in , So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ This is just a sample of the argument Paul makes; this passage goes all the way to the 41st verse, taking them through a history lesson based of the Scriptures alone. However, such teaching—and the identification of Jesus as the promised Messiah—provoked considerable opposition from certain Jews in Thessalonica.
Paul’s custom of first visiting the synagogue for ministry and continuing there as long as he could, is further illustrated in , After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. The Interpretation of Scripture played a key role in the synagogue ministry as it does in the church. So, Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures we see this in; , So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.” So, Paul reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
, And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. The focus of such biblical argumentation, to reason from the Scriptures was to explain to, ‘opening up to them’ [the Scriptures]) and to prove what the text said. The text says, … explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead.
, But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
This recalls, not only the style of preaching we see in 13:26–39, but also the teaching of the risen Christ,
in , And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” When Jesus ‘opened’ the Scriptures for his disciples, Jesus argued that everything written about him in what we call the Old Testament must be fulfilled (). In particular, the prophets had spoken about the need for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead, making it possible for ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ to be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (24:45–47). Foundationally, Jesus taught that God’s saving plan for humanity necessitated his death and resurrection. Paul similarly sought to explain and prove from the Scriptures that the Messiah had to die and rise again, that ‘it was necessary’, which here implies a divine necessity created by a sovereign God. What’s the necessity again, that The Christ must suffer and rise from the dead. Now Paul’s concern was to explain how the crucified Jesus could possibly be the Messiah; that same Messiah which Paul now makes this declaration, , and saying’, This Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ’. Paul must also have wanted to explain and offer to his audience the benefits of that death and resurrection. We are not told how those benefits were outlined at Thessalonica, though we know from elsewhere in Acts that Paul talked in terms of the forgiveness of sins (13:38–39), eternal life (13:46, 48), entrance into the kingdom of God (14:22), or salvation (15:11).
These two issues are intimately connected. There is a plan or purpose of God, , for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. God’s will Paul discerned in the Scriptures and expounded in his teaching. Peter’s sermons in show a similar understanding and focus. This way of looking at Scripture, which stems from the teaching of Jesus himself, explains why it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and then enter his glory and justifies the claim that Jesus of Nazareth is the only one who fulfills the divine plan.
The effectiveness of Paul’s ministry is shown before the opposition is described. 4a… And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas... God uses belief in the gospel to bring new converts into immediate fellowship with those who will introduce them to Christ. Paul and his team were the nucleus of a new community which Paul later called ‘the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ (). Others became members of this church by believing the gospel and being ‘joined’ to them.
What is going on here gives us a true picture of what Paul is talking about in,
, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Luke also here in Acts 4b, 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.
Here is a general category of God-fearing Greeks meaning Gentile believers who were attached to the synagogue in some way. Luke once more specifically highlights the fact that a few prominent women became Christians (cf. v. 12 note). Although Luke’s interest in the conversion of women and their role in the church is obvious from the beginning of Acts. Several of these later references acknowledge that ‘women of economic means and social influence played an important role in the growth of the church in certain localities’. Whatever the success among Jews and God-fearers, many more were apparently converted from paganism. No doubt Paul engaged with such people in the marketplace between Sabbaths and after he was excluded from the synagogue, he was always reaching out. And so should we, we must take the church outside of its four walls. Because the building is not the church the people are the church. We must proclaim to the world that “This Jesus is the Christ!”
(2) This Jesus is the Christ as we reason with those who rebel against Him.
Acts5a, “But the Jews were jealous…” jealous of Paul and Silas’s success. This is the same jealousy we saw surfaced in 13:45, where Paul’s ability to gather crowds of Gentiles to hear him preach appears to have been the cause of their persecution. Whenever we see the words “the Jews” this refers to the Jewish leadership, not all the Jews in an area. The major opposition came from synagogue leaders. The Jewish authorities probably looked on the God-fearing Gentiles as potential proselytes, that could someday come into Judaism; so in his preaching to them Paul was stealing potential converts.
This is a replay of the public accusation—presented in 16:19–24, where the personal motive for the attack is jealousy rather than anger over economic loss, the accusation is once again framed in social and political terms (vv. 6–7).
We also see here that the Thessalonian opponents are distinguished from the previous antagonists by the way in which they handled the attack. In a sense of desperation on their part they found it necessary to seek the help of some bad characters from the marketplace. The designation of these bad men in the text is as follows, Acts 5b ‘some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob…’ In the ancient world, the term rabble designated common laborers, and people who traded in the town centers. In terms of social status, they were regarded as ‘people of low birth … contrasted with the nobility or upper classes’.
They may have been unemployed day laborers, which had been ‘marginalized by the highly stratified society of the ancient world and reduced to catch-as-catch-can workers, when someone needed temporary help’. It is ironic that the Jewish leaders formed a mob and started a riot in the city, but then accused the missionaries of being the troublemakers, look at (v. 6) “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!” The “them” in this passage refers to Paul and Silas. They were trying to create the impression that Paul and Silas were responsible for this social disorder. Jason is introduced into the narrative as a supporter of the missionaries, in whose house Paul and Silas were staying. This is the same Jason mentioned in as a fellow Jew and co-worker with Paul. Jason was converted because he first opened his home to these traveling preachers and then came to accept the gospel they proclaimed. Presumably, the embryonic church in Thessalonica was meeting in his home and people were being drawn from the synagogue to gather with other believers there. So, the jealousy of those who remained with the synagogue became greater as more and more people can to Jason’s home and less and less people attended in the synagogue. The aim of the mob was to bring them (Paul and Silas) out to the crowd) to the popular assembly, which in a free city had judicial functions.
, And Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is “another king, Jesus.”
The frustration of their opponents at not being able to find Paul and Silas is expressed by the fact that they presented their case shouting. No explanation is given for the absence of Paul and Silas, and to offer one without any clues from the context would be foolish. The focus of the narrative is now on the way the nascent church was implicated in the charges, but the Thessalonians show themselves to be a faithful example,
, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
These accusers here extend and sharpen the accusation of 16:20–21 in two ways. First of all, they claim that Paul and Silas ‘have caused trouble all over the world’, which probably means throughout the Roman Empire. There were outbreaks of Jewish unrest around this time not only in Judea but also more widely, and ‘the authorities could not be expected to distinguish the militant messianism of the Jewish nationalists from the messianism proclaimed by Paul and Silas’. As well as being a general threat to Roman society, the charge is that the perpetrators have ‘now come here’, and local supporters who have offered them refuge are contributing to this social and political upheaval (‘Jason has welcomed them into his house’). Secondly, they accuse Paul and Silas of sedition, claiming that ‘they are acting against the decrees of Caesar’
Normally, Caesar’s decrees were not binding on the magistrates of a free city like Thessalonica. However, in this case the reference may have been to a special edict, such as the decree of Claudius (about ad 49), banishing Jews from Rome because of their rioting.
In one sense, of course, they were right. Paul was advancing ‘a truly world-changing mission’, with the proclamation of Jesus as the promised messianic ruler at its heart (v. 3). Now his Jewish opponents knew what he meant when they accused him of saying that ‘there is another king, one called Jesus’. Paul had never aligned his messianic mission with plots to overthrow Roman rule or incite public disturbances.
Accepting the lordship of Christ would mean new priorities and loyalties for those who became disciples. It would lead to the transformation of personal relationships, business and personal ethics, social structures and ambitions, new attitudes towards other religions, and changed ways of relating to Caesar and his representatives. The Holy Spirit would progressively bring about these changes as Christians reflected together on the implications of their new life in Christ. Acts 17:8-9, 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.”
It is important to notice that gives a varied picture of the opponents of the Christian mission and the officials who administered Roman society. The missionaries are twice accused by Jews (17:5–7; 18:12–13), and twice by Gentiles (16:19–21; 19:24–27). Twice the charge is given some credence by public officials (16:22–4; 17:8–9), and twice it is dismissed (18:14–17; 19:35–40). In this case, Jason and other members of the new Christian community were forced to post bond by the magistrates. This was a good behavior bond. They were cautioned and ‘required to give security for their own behavior as well as that of Paul and Silas before being dismissed. Perhaps Jason was required to guarantee that Paul and Silas left the city quietly and did not return. But the mission still prevails because “This Jesus is the Christ and they reasoned with those who rebel against them.
(3) This Jesus is the Christ as we reason with those who receive Him.
This synagogue community in Berea is contrasted with the one in Thessalonica. Although not everyone believed, their initial reception of the message was such as to provoke careful, daily study of the Scriptures, ‘to see if what Paul said was true. Luke’s careful description suggests that he saw this pattern of response as the ideal for Jews confronted with the gospel.
Acts 17:10a, The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.
It is unwarranted to assume that Paul and Silas were hiding from their opponents in Thessalonica, but they were doubtless anxious to avoid arrest and punishment so as to continue their mission elsewhere. The behavior bond bound the brothers, to law and order, which is why they sent Paul away. The situation had become intolerable for the visitors, and now it would be left to their converts to be the means by which the gospel was proclaimed in the region.
, And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
Berea was just off the Via Egnatia, some 45 miles west-southwest of Thessalonica. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue and received a very positive response to their teaching.
, “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.”
The Berean Jews are described as being of more noble character than those in Thessalonica. The term used here refers originally to noble birth generally meant high-minded behavior. Luke means that the Berean Jews allowed no prejudice to prevent them from giving Paul a fair hearing. Their nobility of character was demonstrated in two practical ways. First, they received the message with great eagerness, responding enthusiastically because they realized its relevance to their own lives (cf. 2:41). Second, they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. They were not gullible or unthinking in their approach. Paul had offered them a new way of understanding the Scriptures, proclaiming the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus. They seemed to take to heart the words of Paul,
, Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
They needed to ‘test’ or ‘cross examine’ the Scriptures to see if Paul’s case proved true. The result of Paul’s preaching and the open-minded study of Scripture by the Bereans was that many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. These Greek converts were probably attached to the synagogue. As in Thessalonica, there were prominent Greek women and many Greek men who believed. So, the conversions in Berea were similar in character to those in Thessalonica. The real difference between the situations was that the unconverted in Bereans did not persecute the missionaries and seek to silence them. Perhaps they realized that there was still a case to answer from the Scriptures. Luke contrasts the jealousy and emotive defiance of the Thessalonians with the rational and reflective approach of the Berean Jews. By implication, he commends the latter as the way to respond to the challenge of the gospel and its approach to the Scriptures. Initial expressions of belief, however enthusiastic, need to be reinforced and strengthened by examining the scriptural basis for the gospel more holistically.
, “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.
The extraordinary antagonism of the Jews in Thessalonica is illustrated by the fact that they learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea and took the trouble to travel some forty-five miles to continue their opposition there. When the truth of God’s Word is being proclaimed opposition always purse it.
, Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
This pattern of Jews going from place to place following Paul to another in order to hinder his ministry was previously noted in 14:19. The Thessalonian Jews used the same method as before (v. 5), agitating the crowds and stirring them up, making it necessary for the believers immediately to send Paul in the direction of the sea. This indicates that Paul went to Athens by ship, avoiding the land journey through Thessalonica. However, since no port of embarkation is mentioned. This could mean that Paul’s companions acted as if to take Paul to the sea to put his opponents off the trail, but then accompanied him overland to Athens via Thessalonica.
Yet, Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea, presumably to nurture and encourage their new converts. So those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens, which was a considerable journey by land or sea (approximately 222 miles). They returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. We stated out today speaking about serving God during time of uncomfortable obedience and finding lasting happiness.
Jesus explained how we could find lasting happiness, but in so doing He stood the world’s way on its head: Lose your life for His sake and the gospel’s and you’ll find it. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (, ). Jesus mades the same point in the Sermon on the Mount, where He contrasted the pagans, who eagerly seek after the material comforts of life, with believers, who are to “seek first His kingdom and righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” ().
The Apostle Paul was a man who proved Jesus’ words in the crucible of life. In our text, we saw Paul in circumstances in which we could not fault him for being unhappy. Think of who he was--God’s chief apostle to the Gentiles. He was well educated, experienced, and influential. He had founded churches all over the Roman Empire. He had been used of God to pen much of our New Testament. He had endured much persecution and hardship in his labors for the Lord. By now he was over 60, at a time in life when a man looks forward to enjoying the fruits of his lifelong labors. Many American pastors by this time are looking forward to a relaxed schedule, a little more golf. If you’re as successful in ministry as Paul was, you could expect to live off your book sales and speak at a lot of conferences and retreats.
But where was Paul? Instead of being out on the links or speaking under the pines at a retreat center, he was on the battlefield for His God.
What was his secret? How could Paul be filled with joy in these dismal circumstances? The answer is, he had put into practice the words of Jesus, that the way to find true life is to lose your life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.