A Tale of Two Cities

Introduction

Attention - Happy New Year! New Year means a new church season: Grow. It also means resolutions and desires to make this year different than last year. I know for many of you, a PCS is likely or you may have orders in hand. For others of us, we’re here for a little while longer.

Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change. The recurring themes each year include a more active approach to health and fitness, improved finances, and learning new things for personal and professional development. Chances are, more than a couple of the top 10 most common resolutions will look familiar to you:

Exercise more

Lose weight

Get organized

Learn a new skill or hobby

Live life to the fullest

Save more money / spend less money

Quit smoking

Spend more time with family and friends

Travel more

Read more

Whether you are a resolution-maker or not, I want to encourage you to make a commit to the positive change of engage with the Word of God more this year than you did last year.

Context

The Second Journey so far

Importance of Macedonia to Paul Acts 16:6-10 “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

God’s word to him was to go and preach in Macedonia

Immediately they headed toward Macedonia

First stop

Philippi, entrance to Macedonia from Mysia which is region north of Asia (Think of the 7 cities from Revelation).

Paul and his companions spend some time there proclaiming the gospel, but are asked to leave after a riot forms and Paul is beaten without trial. Today’s text picks up as they leave Philippi

Thessalonica

History of Thessalonica - the Macedonian king Cassander founded Thessalonica around 315 bc, naming the city after his wife, Thessalonike (“victory of Thessaly”). The city was built on or near the site of ancient Therme and incorporated approximately 25 other villages in the area—demonstrating it was of prodigious size from an early date

Importance of city -Thessalonica functioned as one of the most important cities in the empire, having both a vast harbor and prevalent location along a major trade route; the principal and most populous city in Macedonia. “We see at once how appropriate a place it was for one of the starting-points of the Gospel in Europe, and can appreciate the force of what Paul said to the Thessalonians within a few months of his departure from them: ‘From you, the word of the Lord sounded forth like a trumpet, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place,’ ” (1 Th 1:8) [Howson].

Berea -

A city in southwestern Macedonia in the district of Emathia, about 45 miles west of Thessalonica

Berea was known as an “out-of-the-way city” by Cicero

Roughly Parallel accounts

Visit the synagogue proclaim Messiah

riot forms and thrusts Paul out.

Read Acts 17:1-15

Acts 17:1–15 CSB

After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women. But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus.” The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them. As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds. Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

d. Need - How is God’s Word Important?

How is God’s Word important? It brings life

Paul’s strategy in two parts

Paul’s approach in the synagogue was three-pronged: reasoned, explained, and proved.

reasoning is equivalent to what we would call dialogue

explain is what is

proving was giving evidence that something was true, specifically what we find in vs. 3: This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

Paul’s approach outside the synagogue was love

Paul developed deep love for the Thessalonians and shared life with them 1 Thessalonians 2:7-11 “Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. As you know, like a father with his own children,”

People’s response

Thessalonians

The reason that the Word of God is important is that it gives life. It did just that in Thessalonica and Berea

Emphasis in vs 4 is the “large number of God-fearing Greeks”

(Bible Knowledge Commentary) The reference to three Sabbath days does not mean the missionary band stayed only three weeks in Thessalonica. Paul carried on the work with a Jewish emphasis for three Sabbaths and then turned to Gentiles and ministered to them for some weeks after that. This was the situation for three reasons: (1) The Philippian church sent money to Paul at least twice during this visit (Phil. 4:15–16), implying a longer lapse of time than three weeks. (2) In addition, Paul supported himself by manual labor (1 Thes. 2:9; 2 Thes. 3:7–10). This may indicate that considerable time elapsed before the aid from Philippi arrived. (3) Most of the converts at Thessalonica were not from the synagogue but were Gentiles steeped in idolatry (cf. 1 Thes. 1:9).

Bereans

Various Christian groups are fond of referring to themselves as “Bereans.” The word has become synonymous with a priority and concern for Bible study, originating from this section of Acts.

comparison of few jews and many Gentiles in Thessalonica to many Jews and many Gentiles in Berea

open-minded (more noble character) referred to a type of refinement that came from Noble Birth, but was expanded to deal with character. The Jew’s character was noble because they were willing to search Scripture and wrestle with the text and what Paul was saying

Illustration: Charles Spurgeon tells a story about one who came to him and said that she could not believe. “Well,” I said, “now suppose as you sit in that chair I say to you, ‘Young friend, I cannot believe in you.’ “You would say to me, ‘I think you should.’

“Suppose I then replied, ‘I wish I could.’

“What would you ask me to do? Should I sit still and look at you until I said, ‘I think I can believe in you’? That would be ridiculous. No, I should go and inquire, ‘Who is this young person? What kind of character does she bear? What are her connections?’ And when I knew all about you, then I have no doubt that I would say, ‘I have made examination into this young woman’s character, and I cannot help believing in her.’ ”

Now, it is just so with Jesus Christ.

God’s word brings life

Genesis 1:1-3 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.”

In Thessalonica and Berea, God’s word brought life to those who had ears to hear.

How’s is God’s Word Important? It sustains life by helping us persevere

Riot in both cities

Riot in Thessalonica

Jewish jealousy was the typical reason that Paul was expelled. Consider if after an itinerant preacher came here to Pillar that many people came to listen and stuck around. So many people that they outnumbered our current congregation by two or three times. It would feel like there was a takeover going on. Add to that a teaching that is accepted by some of the church but not the rest and you have the breeding ground for the type of jealousy that led to the riot.

Accustation

Paul’s teaching was in accord with what Jesus was accused of by the Jews in Luke 23:2 “And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.””

This is their accusation against Paul: he’s counter-cultural and says there’s another king

The Roman imperial cult arose during the time of the early reign of Caesar Augustus, whose full name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (he was known as Octavius). His great-uncle was Julius Caesar, and after Julius Caesar’s assassination, young Octavius brought peace, prosperity, and security to the Roman Empire. In fact, the Romans would often say that Caesar Augustus brought the gospel with him, the good news. They would actually use the term for gospel: Caesar was the bringer of the gospel, and he was to be worshipped. So the Caesars who followed after him—Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero to mention a few—all continued this Roman imperial cult.

So the leaders, the politarchs, of Thessalonica wanted to protect the rule of Caesar. To demonstrate their loyalty to Caesar, they would lead the people in worship, and in that worship they would remind the people of the great Kingdom of Caesar and the good news that he brought of peace and security and prosperity. Caesar’s kingdom was one of peace and prosperity that would never end, it was claimed. It was into that environment that Paul came preaching his gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s teaching to the Thessalonians conflicts directly with the emperor religion in at least four ways:

1.The Christian faith entailed exclusive worship of the singular God. The willingness to offer a sacrifice to the emperor later became the standard test of whether an individual was a Christian (Stanton, “Aspects,” 85–95; Bettenson, Documents, 3–5).

2.Christians used the Greek term κύριος (kyrios, “Lord”), a title typically reserved for the emperor, to refer to Jesus Christ. Paul’s assertion that “there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 8:6) would have been particularly controversial.

3.Paul’s assertion in 1 Thess 5:3 that the Day of the Lord will come suddenly upon those who are saying, “[There is] peace and security” (5:3) appears to challenge the concept of the pax Romana (Roman peace), which emphasized the stability that the emperor brought to the empire. As with the term κύριος (kyrios), the pax Romana was an important element undergirding and used within the imperial religion (Witherington, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 7).

4.In his discussion of the Lord’s destruction of “the lawless one” (2 Thess 2:8), Paul employs the imperial terminology ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia, “manifestation”) and παρουσία (parousia, “coming/advent”) used by the Julio-Claudians with reference to their divine origination. Paul’s vision of the return of Christ anticipates the conclusion of the empire, but more generally the end of all oppressive, godless powers.

Acts 17:5-6 tells us that the crowd looked for Paul at the house of a man named Jason. He was brought to the authorities who levied a judgementP robably the bond-posting was to guarantee that Paul and Silas would leave town and not return. If more trouble arose, Jason and the others would lose their money. This may explain why Paul was prohibited from returning (1 Thes. 2:18). In spite of this, the Christians at Thessalonica kept on boldly proclaiming the gospel (1 Thes. 1:7–10; cf. 2:14–16)

Berea

v.13 tells us that Jews that had been jealous of Paul’s work in Thessalonica found out that he had come to Berea and they sent a party to go disrupt that work as well.

While it is easy to look at how the actions Jews of Thessalonica were wrono, it’s not helpful to have such a view. In their convictions, they expelled someone who had completely disrupted their Jewish synagogue. Not only that, when Paul left he started doing that to another city. If we were in their shoes, I imagine we would make contact with that other church and warn them of what happens when this “teacher” came to our church. the problem isn’t so much the action, but the heart of disbelief from which the action came from.

So again, there was an agitated crowd and the believers thought it best for Paul to go on to a different place.

Paul’s motivation

1 Corinthians 9:16-18 “For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.”

Illustration - John V. Taylor, at the time bishop of Winchester, began his book The Go-Between God (SCM, 1972) with these words: “The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things that he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focusing upon Jesus Christ.”

Paul continued to proclaim the gospel, sustained by the Word of God. He had a relationship with God that was initiated He an encounter with Jesus. He had been given clear instructions to go to the Gentiles, and most recently to go to the region of Macedonia. Paul was sustained by the word of God.

God’s word sustains life

Hebrews 1:1-3 “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Colossians 1:15-17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.”

Application

Searching and Knowing Scripture

It was the custom of the Jews to have the Torah memorized and much of the Psalms and prophets as well. They lived life through the lens of Scripture

We have taken for granted Scripture because of the accessibility that we have: numerous translation, layouts, covers, study Bibles, YouVersion, BibleGateway and many other resources at our fingertips.

Challenge: learn Scripture

Start with 1 chapter of reading per day: Reading plans, Lectionary, through the Bible

Memorize a verse every week

Memorizing material is like a muscle, you stretch it and grow it so that one verse becomes easy so you can stretch to two or three a week. If you work at it, it will become easier.

Stack or just memorize chunks and set them down.

Conversational relationship with God the one called the Word (Living by the Spirit)

This is a little more controversial in conservative evangelical culture, but it is important nonetheless. The intimate relationship that God desires to have with us cannot occur outside of communication. And more specifically dialogue.

Hearing God by Dallas Willard

Spiritual Direction: introducing concept of hearing God slowly working with someone who has been trained in teaching how to hear from and interact with the Spirit.

Guardrails

Scripture - Its hard to know God’s character and voice apart from knowing what he’s already said through his Spirit in Scripture

Community - helps discern the truth of what you are hearing, protects against bad decisions made in the name of “hearing from God”

Conclusion: As we come into the new year, let’s commit to knowing the Word of God better. As we know the Word, we can apply the Word, and the Word will make us more like Jesus.

In groups:

What is your experience of God’s Word like on a weekly basis?

When was the last time that you had an experience of God speaking to you?

What is one way that you can increase your knowledge of God’s Word this week?