Series — Paul’s Second Missionary Journey — Sermon — Turning the World Upside Down

Introduction

Good morning Church!

It’s good to see each and everyone of you who have made it out this morning and I also want to say good morning to all those who may be watching online.

Today we are going to be continuing on in our study of the Book of Acts here and we are going to see from a bird’s eye view what I feel is to be the crux of the Christian life.

We left off last week, if you will remember, with Paul and the crew in Philippi and Paul cast a demon out of a girl and she lost her ability to fortune tell which in turn cost her masters lots of money.

They could have cared less about the girl but when they realized their crooked way of making a living was gone, they got highly upset and took Paul and Silas before the magistrates of the city and accused them of wrongdoing at which point the magistrates beat Paul and Silas and had them thrown in jail.

At midnight they sang and praised God and the prison shook and the doors flung open but none of the prisoners left and the jailer became a believer along with his entire household!

The next day, they went to free Paul and Silas at which point Paul said, “I don’t think so. Tell your leaders to come and let us go!”

And when they found out they were Roman citizens, they begged them to leave their city because they knew they had already messed up by beating them and trying to cast them out of the city.

So, reckoning the only thing that could come of sticking around would be to cause more issues, Paul and Silas visited with the newfound Church in Philippi, encouraged the brethren and continued on with their missionary journey.

Now, what you will find here is that as Dr. Luke continues to tell the story of Acts he now reverts back to third person. It is believed that Philippi was possibly home to Luke and therefore he more than likely stayed behind to encourage the brethren and nurture the newfound Church in Philippi.

Today though, we will see Paul and the others continue on in their missionary journey and again, they will face opposition and uprisings but they continue to press on for the cause of Christ.

They continue to spread the gospel seed which is the job of every born again believer sitting here today!

And if we will do that; if we will spread the gospel as they did in the days of old; yes we too will more than likely face opposition but, we will also see the glory of God move in seeing people continue to come to Christ!

With no further ado, if you have your Bible’s turned to Acts 17 Verse 1, would you say, amen.

The Continuing of the Journey — (Vs. 1)

Now, before we get into the meat of the message I want to use a section here from Chuck Swindoll’s commentary to help set the stage for us and give us some context into the next leg of Paul, Silas, and Timothy’s journey.

Chuck Swindoll — In the second century BC, the Romans built a highway called the Via Egnatia from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium (now called Constantinople) near the Black Sea, a distance of almost 700 miles. Nearly 20 feet wide and paved with hand-laid stone slabs, it carried Roman troops to battle, taxes to the capital city, and merchandise everywhere. And now it carried the gospel into Greece.

Paul followed the Via Egnatia a little more than 35 miles from Philippi to Amphipolis, where the seat of Roman government administered its affairs in Macedonia. From there, he continued another 30 miles to Apollonia, and then to Thessalonica 33 miles away. Each leg of his journey required a long day’s walk but put him in a major city by nightfall.

Thessalonica was an unusual city in terms of politics. Cassander, a general of Alexander the Great, founded the city in 315 BC over the town of Therma, which was named for the nearby hot springs.

Later, in 42 BC, when Antony and Octavian battled Brutus and Cassius for control of Rome, Thessalonica sided with Octavian. As a reward, the city was declared free, meaning exempt from taxes, and autonomous, meaning they had the right to appoint their own magistrates, five men who bore the unusual title of “politarch” because the people had democratically selected their own city’s rulers. When the province of Macedonia was divided into four districts, Thessalonica became the capital of the second.

Now, the reason I wanted to share this last part is because we will actually see it come into play here towards the end of our study today.

Now that we have seen The Continuing of the Journey, let’s move on to The Continuation of Paul’s Custom.

The Continuation of Paul’s Custom — (Vs. 2-4)

Paul had been doing this long enough now that he had created a tried and true game plan.

Just like any visionary and leader, you find a method to the madness and you stick with it as long as it works.

Now, there has to be some tweaking from time to time but if you can ever find the sweet spot where things just work you keep doing them because that’s what makes you successful and Paul was doing just that.

Was it without it’s issues?

Absolutely not. They stood the risk of upsetting the Jewish people of the synagogue, which happened very often, but they also had some common ground that they could start with.

At least these folks believed in the same God that Paul believed in.

So, first things first…search out a Jewish synagogue in whatever city they were in and then, secondly, begin to enlighten them to the scripture.

Acts 17:2–3 NLT

2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.”

The Bible says for 3 weeks here that Paul went in and “reasoned” with them out of the scriptures.

The word “reasoned” used here is the Greek word (dialegomai) and it means to discuss, to converse, to deliberate, to dispute.

Vines Dictionary says it means “to think different things with oneself, to ponder.”

Paul spent 3 weeks with these folks in Thessalonica, reasoning with them in the scriptures, asking them to open their minds, to see the nuggets of the Old Testament that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah!

Verse three says, “he explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead” and then explained how Jesus fulfilled each prophecy!

The KJV says...

Acts 17:3 KJV 1900

3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

When it says, “opening and alleging” here, the Greek word for opening is (dianoigō) and it means “to open thoroughly”.

Chuck Swindoll — When Paul reasoned with the Jews at the synagogue in Thessalonica, he “explained” (dianoigō [1272]) the Old Testament Scriptures. The Greek word dianoigō means “to completely open up what before was closed.” Obviously, the Jews in the synagogue had the Scriptures, but their true meaning remained closed until Paul “opened” those familiar passages by introducing Jesus as the Christ. Suddenly, for those who were willing, the meaning became clear for the first time.

Verse 4 says...

Acts 17:4 NLT

4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

After much teaching and explaining and searching, Paul had finally broken through!

The truth of God’s word had finally penetrated the fallow ground of their unbelieving hearts! The seed had been sown for three weeks and now it had begun taking root!

Paul had been tilling and the hard work had began to pay off!

And maybe you are here this morning and maybe the fallow ground of your heart has been tilled and the seed of the gospel that was planted a week ago, a month ago, a year ago is beginning to take root and you are sitting here this morning and something inside of you is telling you that you need to be saved!

Dear friend, if that is you, don’t wait until the end of the service. This altar is always open and if you need to be saved come right now!

I won’t bother you. I’ll just keep on preaching! But you come and get your heart right with the Lord while there’s still time!

If you need someone to pray with you, one of our Deacons will be more than happy to come and do that but dear friend, don’t wait!

Come while the Holy Spirit is dealing with your soul!

The Bible says in...

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 1900

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

And that’s exactly what took place in Thessalonica!

The Word of God had been opened unto them. The gospel seed had been planted in their souls! The truth of God’s word broke up that fallow ground and people began to get saved!

Paul’s custom had won out again!

Find a Jewish synagogue and get busy preaching Jesus and Paul knew God would do the rest!

Now that we’ve seen The Continuation of Paul’s Custom, let’s look on down at…The Contention of the Unbelievers & Their Claim of Insurrection.

The Contention of the Unbelievers & Their Claim of Insurrection — (Vs. 5-9)

After seeing how the gospel of Jesus was changing people’s lives, the unbelievers got upset!

Notice the real reason behind their anger?

It was jealousy!

The real problem was the fact that they were quickly becoming the minority as people began to believe in Jesus and they didn’t like it!

They were as the KJV puts it, envious!

I want to stop right here for just a moment and try my best to bring something to light.

Do you know why Satan is here in this world instead of being in heaven with God?

Because of jealousy…because of envy!

Isaiah 14:12–14 KJV 1900

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Satan was referred to as “son of the morning.” He was a bright and shining star!

Ezekiel, being told by God to give warning to the king of Tyrus, gives us a good look into who Satan really was.

Ezekiel 28:12–19 KJV 1900

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Satan was beautiful, possibly God’s greatest creation but because of his beauty, he was overcome with envy and was not content with what God had given him! He wanted more! He was jealous that he was not God! He wanted power! He wanted the pomp! He wanted the praise!

And because of that jealous envy, he was cast out of heaven and from the throne room of almighty God!

We were watching a movie last night on Angel Studios called Shift. And in this movie there’s the devil and without getting into the specifics because you’d probably get lost, you can see him multiple times being jealous of God!

There’s this man and he’s been going through all these trials and he’s kind of a resemblance of Job but he remains faithful to God through it all and the whole time the devil is just trying to get him to give up on God by making him thing that God had given up on him.

He tried promising him things, empty promises, but each time the guy seen through it and pressed forward and eventually, God delivered him from the snares of Satan the problems he was facing!

But the thing that got me was just the jealousy of Satan towards God and we can see this same principle play out in the scripture before us this morning!

The unbelievers were jealous that Paul and Silas were seeing folks come to faith in Christ!

They were jealous that people were turning from their way of believing.

And their jealousy, their envy was fueled by Satan!

And so the Bible says that they went to draw them out.

The problem was, Paul and Silas were nowhere to be found.

So, what did they do? The next best thing!

They go to the marketplace and get some troublemakers and go get some of the newfound believers!

And they drug them out before the city council the Bible says.

And then come the accusations of insurrection!

Acts 17:6 NLT

6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.

Acts 17:6 KJV 1900

6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

These men have turned the world upside down!

Praise God, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be known for turning the world upside down for Jesus!

“These that have turned the world upside down, are come hither also!”

You can hear the fear in their voices!

Now look what they say next...

Acts 17:7 NLT

7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

Here’s where we tie back into our first section.

Remember, Thessalonica had the luxury of being a free city. Free from taxes and free to rule as they seen fit but…if Rome heard there was an insurrection in Thessalonica, that freedom would flee in an instant!

Rome would have none of that!

So they bring a claim of insurrection against Paul and Silas!

“They profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus!”

Amen!

I don’t know about you this morning but I don’t profess allegiance to any earthly king, any earthly President, any earthly political party!

I also profess allegiance to King Jesus!

Hebrews 11:8–10 KJV 1900

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:13–16 KJV 1900

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Listen this morning friend, don’t get too attached to this world!

Don’t forget, for those of us who have been born again, the real home for which we seek!

A city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God!

Wednesday night we were singing “In the cross” and I got tore up inside because I don’t know about you but I long for that “rest beyond the river!”

This world is tough but Heaven will be worth it all, amen!

So, they brought this poor fellow Jason and all those who were gathered in his house…this was the newly formed Church…and they bring them before the city council but because they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, they made them post bond and then set them free.

Now that we’ve seen The Contention of the Unbelievers and The Claim of Insurrection, next let’s look on down at The Continued Success in Berea.

The Continued Success in Berea — (Vs. 10-12)

They were more open-minded (KJV-noble) than those in Thessalonica.

This morning friend if you are here and lost, if you want to be saved, you have to be open minded!

You have to allow the gospel seed to enter in and germinate.

If not, if you aren’t willing to give the word of God a chance then nothing will ever change for you and you will die lost in your sins and be cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for all eternity!

Jesus said in...

Matthew 12:31 KJV 1900

31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Hardening your heart over and over in disbelief of the Holy Ghost is the only sin that is unforgivable. So if you want to be saved you must be open to the gospel.

You must come to God by faith.

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

You must be open to believing even when you cannot see!

You have to be willing to give God a shot!

They were open-minded and then look what it says about these Bereans.

They listened eagerly!

Dear friend, being open-minded means being willing to listen and listen they did!

The Bereans listened eagerly to Paul’s message the Bible says!

Oh dear friend if you want to be saved you must be open-minded and eager to listen!

The Bible says in...

Romans 10:14 KJV 1900

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:17 KJV 1900

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Dear friend, you must listen if you want to be saved!

They were open-minded. They eagerly listened! And then look what they did.

They searched the scripture daily to see if Paul and Silas were telling the truth!

So many people nowadays take what the Pastors says as the truth and never even give it a second thought and sadly, often times it don’t line up with the Word of God!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t want you to take my word for it. I want you to search the scriptures and ensure that I am telling you the truth!

I want you to make sure that what I’m preaching lines up with the Word of God!

They verified what Paul and Silas were saying was true and you should do the same!

And for the lost here this morning, dear friend let me say this…if you will be open-minded to the gospel Word, if you will listen eagerly to the preaching of the Word and if you will search the scriptures to ensure that the preaching you are hearing is accurate, you want to know what will end up happening to you?

You will eventually get saved!

The Holy Ghost will get ahold of you and convict you of your lost state and if you’ll be obedient, and be honest with yourself, you’ll see your sad condition unprepared to meet thy God and you dear friend, will get saved!

Which is exactly what happened here in Berea!

Look at Verse 12.

Because of Paul and Silas’ dedication to the Word of God, many Jews believed as well as many Gentile men and women!

When God is on the move though, Satan is sure not to be too far behind.

Look down at Verse 13 at...

The Continued Search for Paul and Silas — (Vs. 13)

It didn’t take long for those envious unbelievers to find out where Paul and Silas got to and when they did, they wasted no time stirring up trouble in Berea either!

But the newly formed Church acted quickly and got Paul out of there before they could get their hands on him.

Look on down as we finish this message out at...

The Careful Departure of Paul — (Vs. 14-15)

I like the very last part here…

Acts 17:15 NLT

15 Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

One look at Athens and Paul knew there was much to be done in this city!

The canvas that God had led Paul too in Athens was right up his alley!

They were an affluent city. As we will see next week they were so hungry for knowledge that they even had a statue built to the unknown God!

As Paul walked the streets and seen this, his soul burned with a desire to teach them about the God they did not know and he would need some backup!

And that’s where we’ll pick up next week!

Closing

For this week though, there are two things I want to hit on in closing.

If you are sitting here and lost this morning and in need of being saved, I want you to know one all important thing above all else…God loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for your sins....in your place…He took the punishment for the sins that you have committed and the sins that I have committed and nailed them to the cross of Calvary and if you will trust in that this morning…that Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God and that He died for your sins and rose from that grave three days later, if you will believe that with all your heart, soul, and mind…dear friend you shall be saved!

You must be willing to hear the gospel, be open to it’s message, be willing to let it take root inside you and change you. If you’ll do that, God will do and has already done the rest!

If you need to be saved this morning and God has spoken to your heart and you feel His Holy Spirit tugging at your heart strings telling you that you need to be saved, when we give the invitation here in just a moment, won’t you come and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

And # 2

For those who are saved here this morning…wouldn’t you like to be known as someone who flipped the world upside down for God?

I sure know I do.

This world needs to be flipped upside down for Christ and if you are here and born again, we’re just the people to do it!

You and I!

We can’t wait on someone else to do it. We can’t wait for the next generation to do it.

We’re here now! God has seen fit to put us in His story at this specific point in time for His specific purpose!

What if your entire purpose in God’s plan is to flip the world upside down in 2024!

What if your entire purpose in God’s plan is to become a missionary and carry the gospel to someone in another country?

What if your entire purpose in God’s plan is to become the next Billy Graham and carry the gospel to millions of people across the globe?

We’ve got work to do Church!

We’ve got to stay hungry for the Word of God and seeing souls saved!

We’ve got to be optimistic about opportunities and seek God’s will in whatever situation we find ourselves in!

What is God calling you to do today to help further His kingdom?

Whatever that thing is, be obedient to His call!