Acts 17:1-14. SPECIAL MISSIONS Paul, Silas, and those with them traveled one hundred miles further into Europe to Thessalonica after they had “suffered and been shamefully entreated at Philippi.” When called to serve the Lord in new places, those involved never know what they will encounter. The only thing that matters is that they are doing the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our work is to go and declare the Gospel as we have been commissioned, and the One we serve will make plain what needs to be done when we get there.
Acts 17. Experiences at Thessalonica, v.1-9 Where they went, v.1-2. “Where there was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them.” Philippi didn’t have a synagogue, so the side of a river was used for prayer. Thessalonica had a synagogue (probably several) where the Jews gathered for teaching and prayer. Paul’s practice was to preach in them when he could. People who were not Jews could also come to hear him speak. In the service of the Lord, when a method works well, keep doing it until it becomes obvious that it is no longer effective. Then, be willing to seek another way of reaching people consistent with the commission we have been given and can be carried out scripturally and spiritually.
What they did, v.3-4. “Paul reasoned with them out of the scriptures.” Paul wisely began speaking from the Old Testament and explaining how the Messiah fulfilled those scriptures. Then, he moved the hearers' thoughts from what they knew to what was unknown. Jews were waiting for the Messiah, and as Paul continued preaching, he affirmed to them that “this Jesus, who I preach unto you, is Christ (Messiah).”
Paul gloried in the Gospel message of life, truth, hope, and the way to heaven for those of his kin and nationality. He personally knew the Lord Jesus as his Savior, Redeemer, and Lord. The Lord Jesus filled his soul, and he was passionate about what he believed and preached. He opened his preaching by taking his listeners from the familiar ground they were on to the high ground of unfolding the truth of salvation by grace alone through putting personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How they succeeded, v.5-9. “Some of them believed… the Jews which believed not, moved with envy.” When the Gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is received differently by different people. To some, it is the savor of life unto life; to others, it is the savor of death unto death. People who listen are either condemned by what they hear and become angry and reject the message, or they are justified freely by God’s grace when they believe with all their hearts. Some will gladly receive the word, and others will deliberately reject it.
There is no neutral ground when the Gospel is faithfully preached. There will be results of one kind or another. A change of attitude toward God is one of those results. Suppose alienation from God and enmity against God are not acknowledged and repented, and sinners will not turn from sin to Christ. In that case, they usually become bitter and sometimes antagonistic against the Gospel as they go farther away from God. Some may even try to organize open opposition against the Gospel.
That is what happened at Thessalonica. There was no way those who heard Paul preach could refute his teaching. However, the Jews recruited some rabble-rousers who were “lewd fellows,” and they rioted and tried to say the preachers were real revolutionaries. The Gospel message must have preceded them in some way, likely by word of mouth and uniformed gossip, because the charge was, “These men that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”
Such a reputation indicates the power of the Gospel that revolutionizes the lives of sinners, breaks down social barriers, opens prison doors, makes people care for one another, and moves them to worship God! What a marvelous testimony to the Gospel's message and power! The transformation of human lives is an undeniable force for good when faithful servants of the Lord preach the word of God. It doesn’t just clean people up and change how they live; it changes them from the inside. Gospel preaching doesn’t have to be clever and delivered by charismatic personalities. The result of God’s word being preached comes from the Holy Spirit.
Acts 17. Experiences at Berea, v.10-14 Because of the evil agitation of the Jews and those they stirred up against the preachers, Paul and those with him moved on from Thessalonica to Berea, a city about sixty miles away. It is common to reach out with the Gospel to new places to find different attitudes in people of various communities. That difference may be because of the past and present community leaders who, in days past, had respect for God and the Bible and may have had some among them who feared God. Also, in the older days, people didn’t move far from home and families. They depended on all the family members for survival. Children had an important part to play in the family dynamics of those who lived more or less from day to day. There is a different mindset in children who know they have an important role to fill in the family, rather than live to play for their life-activity until they choose to leave home. The Bereans were…
Open-hearted, v.11. “They received the word with all readiness of mind.” Those people were not close-minded by prejudice. They were ready to listen with guarded, careful, and thoughtful consideration to what was being preached to them. When people are willing to listen and at least take some time to investigate what they hear, there is hope for them to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. What they hear from a solid foundation of truth that has been tried and proven by many people over a long period will make them more inclined to heed the preaching and soon be convinced of the truth themselves.
Whether people act upon what they hear is really up to them personally. If they believe it to be true but don’t take it for themselves and go forward in faith, or if they accept the truth of the word preached and accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior, it is their responsibility. The preacher has sown the seed of the word of God. The Gospel seed falls on various kinds of ground as our Lord taught when He was here. The ground is the different kinds of hearts of the hearers. The preacher’s responsibility is to ensure God's word is taught and explained clearly. Life is in the seed, and the Holy Spirit is the One who generates the life into fruitfulness.
Noble-hearted, v.11. “They searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” A noble mind of intelligence and a noble soul of conviction and compassion are good combinations to know God's mind. When people are eager to know what is right and willing to obey what is right, God will save them. They will be lost if their thoughts and opinions do not stand the test of God’s revealed will in the scriptures. The quicker people act on the truth when they hear it, the quicker they will find it to be true for themselves. Then, when they find it and believe it by faith, the better it becomes as we go forward in faith daily.
Honest-hearted, v.12. “Therefore, many of them believed.” The truth of God does its own work when people are willing to read it with an honest heart. It exposes our sin and guilt but doesn’t leave us totally convicted and without hope. Repentance for sin and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation is made plain in many ways in the word of God. When people are honest enough to believe what they have been searching for is right before them, they will find the Lord waiting for them to come to Him.
Those who, in “a good and honest heart,” hear the word of God, keep it, and act upon it will find the life-giving fruit that is needed. If a person is honest before God and will do God’s will, that person will know the doctrine is from God and can rest in faith.
Acts 17. Experiences at Athens, v. 15-34 To avoid further conflict at Berea that may have negatively affected the work of the Lord there, Paul, who was the spokesman, left Berea and went with some brothers from Berea to Athens. Timothy and Silas continued on in the work at Berea. However, when Paul saw what Athens was like as a “city wholly given to idolatry,” he wanted all his fellow workers with him. There are times in the Lord’s work when it is important to have a number of the Lord’s servants working together for moral, spiritual, and physical safety. The moral and spiritual condition of the Athenians moved Paul with a combination of anger and grief for those people whom Satan blinded. Satan doesn’t take an invasion into what he considers his territory by those who belong to the Lord and who preach the Gospel without opposition.
The lost condition of the souls of many around us moves us to either despair or prayer, to move away or take action, blend in, or preach the Gospel. Human life is sustained and surrounded by God, but He remains unknown to those whose ignorance blinds them to the truth of God and leads them astray. God overlooked such ignorance for a time, but judgment is ahead when superficial curiosity gives way to an awful awakening. Repentance and judgment for sin have to be faced. The dead will be raised whether people believe it or not. Man’s ideas are just that – ideas. God’s truth is a divine decree that is unchanging and unavoidable.
The Preacher. Paul was a man of great intellect who had studied under one of the greatest teachers of his day, Gamaliel. His capacity for logical reasoning was tempered and enhanced by his unswerving faith in the word of God and the God of the word. Philosophers with human intellect but without spiritual understanding think themselves wiser and superior to others until they encounter someone who knows more than they do. Then, they get defensive and must consider the source and content of their beliefs.
A man who had seen the risen Lord and been changed inside and out had something about him that couldn’t be ignored when he spoke. It is important that those who speak for God know God and have given themselves to read, study, assimilate, and make the word of God “the man of their counsel and their guide.” Paul had his commission from his Lord. He had suffered in his service to the Lord. His heart burned with love for souls, and he had passed the place where he was afraid of what people would do to him for preaching the Gospel. He was prepared to face the opposition of those on Mar’s Hill, knowing that the “foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
A preacher with a message from God should never be ashamed to tell it out. There comes a time when truth cannot stand by and surrender to tolerance. To many people today, tolerance is a prime virtue that should direct everything. They are especially committed to religious tolerance, in which they even go so far as to say, “Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth. As long as you believe in your own truth, you are okay.” Consequently, there is no standard of righteousness nor unchanging truth. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter what it is. They insist that we must accept that premise, even though we know it is wrong, or we are considered a bigot. They will not accept that even by having that opinion, they are intolerant of others who disagree.
In Paul’s day, Christians were considered by many to be “haters of mankind,” and that attitude is now to be found in this country. There are those in places of authority who believe “Bible-believing Christians are our greatest threat because they are intolerant of other opinions.” They refuse to admit they are being intolerant when they are prejudiced against Christians.
The Preparation, v.16. “While he waited, his spirit was stirred in him.” The Athenians had thousands of gods and altars erected in their city, many of which were wonderful works of art. But that did not move Paul to become a tourist and go sightseeing to marvel at the works of men. He saw men and women as perishing souls in need of salvation. He looked at people as God sees them, with eternity in view. The artistry was evidence of the “devotions” of the Athenians, but to the preacher’s eyes, it was a sad commentary of a city completely given over to idolatry. He was seeing as God sees.
It is common today to see visible evidence of people's “devotions” intended to overwhelm our intellect and move our emotions. When one’s spirit is stirred, all the religious trappings we can see with our eyes and religious fanfare that aims to move our emotions have no real value to us and cause us sorrow rather than joy. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.”
The Pulpit, v.22. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mar’s Hill.” Paganism and biblical Christianity are incompatible. When Paul was taken to the Areopagus to speak, it was not only because of their curiosity and interest in hearing something new. To introduce a foreign god into Athens was a serious charge. Socrates was executed because he rejected the state gods and introduced new gods. Paul was really on trial when he was on Mar’s Hill. He had been preaching in the synagogue but then entered the open marketplace. His message was Jesus and the resurrection. That was a new doctrine.
On Mar’s Hill, with the philosophers and Athenian dignitaries sitting on the rock benches, he was in the most important pulpit in the city. The highest place in a philosophical center can be intimidating, but Paul knew the Lord was with him.
The Audience, v.22. “Ye men of Athens.” Those men had made it their business to inquire into every new thing. The audience Paul had was a very critical congregation who came from very divergent points of view. Epicurean philosophy was a sensual school of thought in which any kind of pleasure was the basic purpose in life. Stoics taught people to be in harmony with nature and to be self-sufficient and independent, not yield to their desires. It had become a source of pride to them.
These people considered Paul to be no more than a bird picking up crumbs and scraps from other philosophies and making them into one of his own. Socrates and Plato had been there before him with all of their own wisdom, so who was he to be teaching and preaching something new! That was until Paul spoke to them with the “wisdom of God.” “The world, by wisdom, knew not God.” Then, they realized there was something fundamentally different in what Paul was saying.
The Sermon, v.23. “Him declare I unto you.” Instead of ideas, Paul preached a real living Person. He began by finding a place of common knowledge that they could all identify. He knew the altar to the unknown god was an effort to appeal to a deity that may have power they knew nothing about. Paul clarified that his subject was “Him,” the unknown God. His first point was that he was not introducing a new god to the Athenians but explaining the reality of one they were ignorantly worshipping.
Every preacher needs a good starting point in his message. Once that point has been made, we can reach the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ and present Him as the only living God. Paul’s message declared the existence and creative power of God. He taught the spiritual character of God. He pointed out the universal brotherhood of man. God's sovereign, overruling providence was made plain in that God has determined the times appointed. Man’s need for God can only be met when they seek Him, and He is not far from everyone. He is the Source of life and is revealed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God is the true God who controls human affairs and the destinies of nations. He created human beings to have a personal relationship with Him and share eternity in happy fellowship with Him. We are created in His image, not like the imaginary images of idols. God does not want people to think he is merely some material being. He intends us to repent of our sins and come to the One who will be the universal Judge but is presently the Savior of sinners.
The Results, v.32. Some people mocked because the doctrine of the resurrection and coming judgment cut the roots of their philosophy out from under them. Some hesitated and lost their opportunity for salvation. Some believed and experienced the salvation God gives to those who seek Him.
TRAINING TECHNIQUES