Acts 41: How to Know Your World has Changed; Pt1 God’s Word

Introduction

Remember the theme of our series through the book of Acts is the UNSTOPPABLE POWER OF THE GOSPEL

No matter what comes… it keeps doing what God intended… spreading… saving… transforming… recreating His Kingdom

Acts also serves as a connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament as it shows us how churches were receiving this Good News. We see the pain of change for some… the excitement of being set free for others.

Acts serves as a picture of this Gospel expansion that tells us how we got here...

Context of Acts chapter 17.

Three cities covered: Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens.

All three are invited into a new way of seeing their world and their place in it.

We started that last week when a group of jealous Jews accused Paul, Silas, and the others of turning the world upside down. We talked about how in reality, in sharing the Gospel message, they were really inviting people into life as God created us to live, in relationship with him… which is actually right side up… but it seems upside down when that's the orientation of the culture. If everyone walked on their hands, imagine how weird you would seem to come in on your feet.

SO last week we saw some people accept the message, but when those who didn’t want any part of it began to cause trouble, Paul, Silas and the others had to be sent out of town.

They go down the road to Berea… and in Berea, they are met with a very different group of people…

But before we get into enough trouble was made that the magistrates sent Sort of backwards… we began with rejection… next week we will look at the message… but this week we focus on Berea as a church that accepts the invitation to change.

Blank check illustration.

Spiritual application of the blank check idea is what we talk about all the time … becoming a Christian starts with surrender, but it develops into our offering our life completely to God.... as though your life - all of it - is a blank check for God to use as HE see’s fit… You are ALL IN.

LIVING ALL IN

Total surrender to God.

Giving God the right to ask anything of you - to give anything to you - or bring any change into your life… You are all in.

Before we knew Christ, we are at best just trying to be happy and take care of those we love… the measures of success are pretty clear.

Do I have the money to do the things I want?

Do I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want, how I want?

But now everything has changed.

When Jesus turns your world upside down, you care about things you didn’t before… you approach problems and decisions different than before… you see your successes differently… you see enemies differently… every thing seems to have changed and your only response is to say I”m all in.

That’s what we find happening as we pick up Acts 17, we see Paul and Silas starting a church in Berea… a church of people who have been changed.

Acts 17:10–15 NIV

10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

The first thing you probably noticed in the passage was what Luke referred to as the Noble character of the Berean Jews.

Strange thing to say since the people in Thessolonica were obviously more noble… it was the capital city after all… it was where all the important people were… not this little town 50 miles away from the city and 20 miles off the highway. It’s a city we don’t know much about because there wasn’t much to know. These were the hicks… yet Luke describes them as having more noble character… they may not have been born with the name.... may not live in the right city… but they have the character to become a changed church.

What is the character of a changed church?

Again Luke gives us something specific… not everything about them, but something important - that is their approach to Scripture. Luke tells us this group of believers are marked with an eagerness to receive and examine the scriptures leading them to believe.

A “Changed Church” has Eagerness - Diligence - Belief

This change Eager reception of God's word.

Eager… not for the miracles, but to hear God’s word.

Eager… not out of duty… but excited to explore the promises.

Eager… not for the teacher… not for the music… not even the coffee… but they were eager for God’s word because they wanted to understand God and the ways of God.

Luke says they were Diligent in studying the scriptures to

That word means conscientiousness to verify Paul's message with scripture.

They didn’t just take Paul at his word… what he thought it all meant… they studied God’s word themselves.

Paul could have taken offense at this I guess.... NO NEED TO STUDY I’M THE GREAT APOSTLE PAUL.

They found God’s word to be true… Paul and Silas to be reliable teachers

This led to the third noteworthy outcome of this visit… and the essential one as well.

That is that they came to believe.

Going back to my jury trial experience, believing is more than thinking it to be so… it’s more than a mental hurdle that you have to clear… it is about being convinced to the point of action.

That’s what happened here… their lives changed. They began to act differently in light of what they now knew as the truth of Jesus.

Not just the Jews, but Many believed, including prominent Greek women and men.

They were convinced… moved by the Spirit to begin the life of living ALL IN.

Marks of an “all in” approach to Scripture

I want to spend some time on this today and really think about what it means to be ALL IN.

4 things being all in means for us as His Church today.

Surrender to Vision of Jesus

We need to start with an actual Surrender to Jesus of the scriptures.

A lot of people like the idea of Jesus, but they don’t know the Jesus from scripture. They don’t like some of the things he taught - forgiveness and love oh yeah! but that thing about selling all you have and giving it to the poor - uh NO! THat whole first will be last and last will be first thing… Don’t like that… Others don’t like the fact that he suffered and died - God could have done it differently.

We don't get to pick and choose the parts of Jesus we accept. It’s all of him or it’s none of him… The picking and choosing is exactly what keeps us from surrendering you see.

I think a lot of times we put the cart before the horse. We worry about all these things that Jesus teaches before they apply to us. I mean WE get caught up in the teachings of Jesus before we see him for who he is. He’s God in the flesh who came and died an insufferable death on our behalf… once you see that… once you see him as he really is, you can then deal with what he asks of us. But we first have to see him.

Remember when Jesus met the disciples. In Luke 5 Peter has been out fishing all night and Jesus comes up and tells them all the fish are on the other side of the boat… so many that their nets start to break… what does he tell them? Come and I will make you fishers of men… and they leave their nets and follow him. Why?

Because they saw Jesus for who he is. His power, his sovereignty, his authority… And what did they do? The natural response was SURRENDER

We need the same compelling understanding of Jesus for true surrender.

It is in the Scriptures that we come to see and understand a picture of Jesus that compels surrender… just like the church in Berea.

But that’s not the end of it.

Eagerness and Examination

Curiosity....

But being all in is more than being curious… Importance of approaching scripture with eagerness - seeking after Him - wanting to know and understand more about God

leads us to dig in… Combining an eager heart with a diligent mind… not just consuming the Bible, but studying it

We don’t blindly accept what others say or what we think about the things of God, but we verify them against what the Bible actually says.

This is crucial because you know who knows the scriptures better than you do? Our enemy Satan. He will guide us to twist, misunderstand, and mis apply the teachings of Scripture in order to lead us further from the truth.

YES to God's Voice

ALL IN Life is one lived with a pre-decided "yes" to God's voice.

You know sometimes in conversations we don’t really spend time listening, but instead thinking of how we will respond? We do that with the Bible as well don’t we? When we read something we say oh but that was back then… you couldn’t live that way today… instead of looking to understand the principal behind the specifics… trying to find the next faithful step because I’ve already said yes.

Commitment to a yes before God asks is a big part of surrender… I would say that’s the essential part of what it means to receive him as our Lord

This is a work of the Spirit for sure… revealing the truth to us… convincing us, convicting us. Absolutely there is a part of it this that is outside of our control. but we do have to respond to what the Spirit is prompting us to do. The Spirit isn’t going to move us All In, we have to personally - each and every one of us has to decide if I am in or is surrender too much of an ask

What I”m asking us to consider today is the attitude of our hearts towards God and his Word.

Reflection on personal response to God's word… how would we grade our self… this is one of those indicators of our spiritual life… how do we surrender to Jesus of the Scriptures… our eagerness and study of His word … and pre-committing to yes when ever he asks.

How would you grade your heart today?

0-10

Our response to God’s Word is the measure of Gospel change.

Jesus told a parable to illustrate the importance of this truth.

We know it as the parable of the Sower. I’m not going to read the whole thing, but Jesus described 4 soils representing different heart postures.

I want us to spend a few minutes considering our hearts today to see where we are stuck spiritually.

God’s desire is that we grow to maturity. That’s the natural progression of our faith, that it grow, that we become more and more bold and confident, that we do greater things than we did before… but the reality is we sometimes get stuck.

Today I want you to leave with a clear understanding of where you are stuck, what part of this life is holding you back from the life God has for you… then we are going to spend some tim ein prayer and close with Holy Communion asking God to fill us again with his grace that we might fully surrender.

Matthew 13:3–8 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Distraction

Matthew 13:19 “19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

Are distractions hindering your ability to hear God's voice?

Evaluation of life's rhythms and priorities.

Suffering

Matthew 13:20–21 “20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”

Is suffering driving you deeper into God's word or causing disengagement?

The potential for spiritual growth through pain.

Sandy

Choking Influences

Matthew 13:22 “22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

What is choking out God's word in your life?

Identifying and removing obstacles to spiritual growth.

Invitation to live an ALL IN life.

Emphasis on surrender and openness to God's leading.

Encouragement to seek a transcendent vision of Jesus through scripture.

Conclusion

Reflection and Communion.

Invitation to reflect on personal heart posture.

Taking communion as a response to Jesus' sacrifice and love.