Acts 17

Proclaiming Jesus to All.

Good morning my friends, I hope you are happy and blessed today!

In the last few days we have celebrated our Independence as a nation, freedom and we gather in God’s house to celebrate our Independence from death and hell, freedom and life in Christ instead.

What indeed a special time for us as a nation and as God’s people.

Today we come back to the Book of Acts and with each chapter, we see one important fact that we need to pay attention too.

Do you have any idea what it might be??

The church, I mean those in the church prayed, served, witnessed and did all they could to see the church grow. They were faithful to God.

The second thing, the church grew because of their actions.

One effort had an effect on the other under the power and leadership of God. They worked and the church grew.

And I see their commitment, they didn’t allow persecution to stop them. The threat of death didn’t stop them.

Wow, I think there are lessons to be learned as we continue to walk through these texts.

So lets think about where we are now, chapter 17, and we find Paul and Silas coming to the city of Thessalonica. This is about a 100 mile journey from Philippi to Thessalonica.

So it would take them 3 or 4 days to reach their destination.

So lets look at this first point.....

1. A New City Before Them....

So after a few days journey, having passed through some smaller towns along the way.

So lets look at verses 1-4 Acts 17:1-4

Acts 17:1–4 ESV

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 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.” 4 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.

Now the Scriptures tell us that upon entering Thessalonica, Paul and his associates find and enter the synagogue of Jews just as was his custom.

Now the synagogue is important, these were the local houses of worship for the Jews. You had to have at least 10 married Jewish men to establish and have a active synagogue.

Paul would enter here and begin to teach the people starting from the Old Testament teaching of the Messiah to the current day, showing them that Jesus is the Messiah, the deliver of Israel.

In truth, His mission was to help the Jews connect the dots as to why Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed one, from the time of Genesis 3 to present day.

So for 3 weeks, Paul, Silas and others who were with them would enter the synagogue on the Sabbath, and when given the opportunity, Paul took time to teach the people. And look at verse 3

Acts 17:3

Acts 17:3 ESV

3 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.”

He explained and proved to them that it was necessary that the Christ to suffer and rise form the dead…

The Jews resisted the idea that the Messiah would need to suffer and die, even though there are Old Testament passages that speak to this truth.. Listen with me to two such passages Isa 53:7

Isaiah 53:7 ESV

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

And then Zech 12:10, we find another such passage…

Zechariah 12:10 ESV

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

These are just a couple of the passages that tell us the Messiah must suffer and die…

Now this is important, Paul explained.. it was a time of discussion whereby he revealed the truth of Jesus to them.

Proving …the word here carries the meaning of causing them to have a change of mind and starting to believe.

Paul’s witness were impactful to them.

It is the same message today my friends, sin and death reigned in this world because of sin, because of Adam’s sin and disobedience to God.

Sin must be atoned for, but what men offered in the OT was temporal, the blood of lambs, it did not last. So death reigned and each person born into this world comes here guilty of sin.

Jesus came as they perfect sinless lamb of God. His sacrifice satisfies the requirements of God for all eternity. One death to save the world....

As Paul shared this, we see the result… Many believed.

The church is growing again! Praise the Lord..

This is why they served, to seek and the lead the lost to salvation for the glory of God.

As they did these things, one thing we have talked about over and over again begins to happen..

Opposition and persecution begins to take place

And that is our second thought my friends....

2. Opposition and Persecution....

When God is being glorified, the Apostles having successful as they teach and preach, we find others were upset about it.

The others were of course, the Jews. While many believed there were many who could not receive the word as truth.

Lets look at verses 5-9, Acts 17:5-9

Acts 17:5–9 ESV

5 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. 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, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

In opposition to Paul’s ministry there with Silas and others, the Jews sought to not only oppose him, but to seek to put them into jail if possible.

So these hostile Jews, ( not all Jews did this) grabbed hold of Gentile men, wicked men they are called and formed a a mob to see to take hold of Paul and Silas.

Now we know Paul and Silas had been staying in the home of Jason.

Jason is a figure we know nothing about here, other than He is a believer and have housed the missionaries and provided them food and shelter.

And when the mob came to Jason’s house, they could not find Paul and Silas.