A World Turned Upside Down

Review

Turn to Acts 17.

Acts chapter sixteen revealed a watershed moment for Christianity as Paul and his team entered Europe with the good news of Jesus Christ.

The good news of Jesus Christ was not only for the Jews.

The good news of Jesus Christ was not only for the middle east.

The good news of Jesus Christ was not only for Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, but truly, it was for the uttermost part of the earth. It was and is for you and me.

In Philippi, a businesswoman and her household, a once demon possessed girl, and a city jailor and his household all believed on Christ and their lives were forever changed. This small group was the first local church in Europe.

Message

In today’s vernacular, when someone says that their world has been turned upside down, that is never a good thing.

It means that they are feeling shaken, maybe even distraught. The things that they assumed were a normal and stable part of their lives may be gone. It means that something about their lives has changed and probably forever.

Today we are going to read where some pagan Greeks bring that very accusation against Paul and his team, but it didn’t have quite the same meaning as today. In context, they were accused of being political revolutionaries who defied Caesar and instead promoted another king, King Jesus.

We know enough about these early Christians to know that this was not their objective at all. They had no interest in defying Caesar or in resisting the Roman government. They had the teaching of Jesus on this very subject when He said, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesars…” and Paul would later teach the believers on this in Romans chapter thirteen.

The accusation was false, but perhaps we can relate to what these Jews and Greeks were feeling when they heard that Christians had come to Thessalonica. As we’ll read in a moment, some were troubled, agitated, and maybe even fearful that their world and everything that they knew was being turned upside down. Others, however, would believe and discover the peace and joy found in Christ alone.

Read Acts 17:1-10.

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Who turned the world upside down

Perhaps when you think about this, your default answer is “Paul.” After all, he is one of the main characters in the second half of the book of Acts, so you’re correct but there’s more to it than that.

Read Acts 17:6.

These: plural - more than one person was implicated in this accusation.

This included Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Jason at the very least. It may have included other brethren also - verse six.

My point is this: it was the early church that turned the pagan world upside down - not Paul alone. Silas was originally a faithful church member from the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:22). Timothy was a young disciple who had just begun to travel with Paul on this second missionary journey. Jason was a believer who lived in Thessalonica. These were the ones who, with Paul, were accused of turning the Grecian world upside down. These were the ones who were accused of defying Caesar and promoting allegiance to King Jesus.

This accusation wasn’t only about Paul. He wasn’t the “secret weapon” of the early church! This accusation was a tacit admission that God was doing great things through little people! They were making a difference in Thessalonica, just as they had done in Philippi, and before that in cities across Asia Minor. This was a serious charge, but it was a testament to the power of God working through surrendered people.

Application: Christian, perhaps this morning you feel like you don’t have much to offer God. There’s no way that God could use you to make a difference like He used Silas and Timothy.

Maybe you feel like you don’t have many talents.

Maybe you feel like you don’t have much strength because of your age or health.

Maybe you feel like you don’t have much time.

Perhaps most of all, you’re just tired and don’t feel like you’re very useful to God.

If that describes you this morning, that’s okay, because God doesn’t need much. More than anything, He wants Christians who are completely surrendered for His use. He uses a faithful church member like Silas. He uses a young man like Timothy.

If God wanted you to do something - anything - that would make a difference in our community, would you do it?

So far, we’ve seen who God used to turn the world upside down, now secondly let’s consider…

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How they turned the world upside down

Let me be the first to say that making a difference in our community is a broad idea. It could mean just about anything in terms of application and you could take it a variety of ways, so it begs to be narrowed down a bit. How did they turn the world upside down in Thessalonica? How did they make a difference in that place?

Was it by starting soup kitchens?

Was it by establishing nonprofits that provided housing assistance?

Was it by launching programs to get young people off the streets and engaged in constructive activities?

Those are all good ideas and I’m not minimizing them at all. Those are the efforts that are usually lauded as being “difference makers” in our society today and if a church has the manpower to run those programs, they can be very effective, but obviously, that’s not what Paul and his team were doing in Thessalonica. Their mission was narrower and more focused than that.

Read Acts 17:2-3.

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They reasoned and disputed out of the Scriptures - Acts 17:2, 17.

Notice, verse two says, “as his manner was”, in other words, this was his pattern of ministry. This was how he and Silas and Timothy made a difference everywhere they went.

Read Acts 17:10-11.

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Paul and Silas traveled west, leaving Thessalonica and heading to Berea.

You see the pattern? Paul and Silas evidently reasoned out of the Scriptures again, but this time, the Jews embraced their doctrine with joy and studied the Scriptures for themselves to see if it was true.

Read Acts 17:16-17.

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Here, Paul travels alone to Athens.

Paul sees this preeminent city consumed with idolatry. They were devoutly religious but they didn’t know God! So what did he do? He began to reason and to dispute with them out of the Scriptures!

This is how Paul and his team turned the world upside down! This is how they made such a difference! They reasoned and disputed out of the Scriptures!

Reasoned and disputed: same Greek word in verse two and in verse 17, also 18:4.

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Reasoned and disputed: to converse, to have discourse and to reason with others.

δια-λέγομαι: It’s where we get our English word “dialogue” from.

Application: Church family, it’s quite simple: the early church turned their world upside down because they talked and reasoned with people out of the Scriptures! Before they added other programs and complex layers of ministry, they made a difference in their communities by engaging others in conversation about life and what God says about it in the Bible.

If you want a front row seat to Paul doing this then read verses 22-31 sometime.

You might be thinking,

“Pastor Tim, I don’t have a Bible college degree.”

“Pastor Tim, I’m not called to pastor a church.”

“Pastor Tim, I don’t get paid to study the Bible like you do.”

Reality is, I wrestled with this point as I was studying this week because I don’t want to come across as demanding the impossible of you. It’s not fair of me to hold you to the same standard that God might hold me to.

At the same time, I wonder how many Christians are putting in the personal work of studying the Bible for themselves.

Our TV news networks are littered with so-called “experts” that they drag out every time some crisis happens.

If you are a Christian, more than anything else, you should work to be an “expert” in the Bible because no one else will be.

Then take what you do know and use it to dialogue with others out of the Scriptures. Does it call for creativity? Do you need Holy Spirit wisdom? Yes! Again, listen to Paul as he speaks in verses 22-31 and you’ll see that he was rather creative.

We’ve seen who turned the world upside down - it was not just Paul the apostle; it was faithful church members like Silas and young men like Timothy.

We’ve seen how they turned the world upside down - they reasoned and disputed out of the Scriptures.

Now thirdly…

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Where they turned the world upside down

Read Acts 17:1, 10.

There were three places where they had conversations and reasoned with the Scriptures:

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Wherever they would have influence - Acts 17:1, 10.

We’ve already seen in the book of Acts that Paul always visited the local synagogues when he entered a new city. Why was this? One reason was because this was where he would have immediate influence.

Paul was Jewish to his core. That was his people, after all.

Paul was an expert in the law; he was a rabbi. He had instant credibility when entering a synagogue - Acts 13:15.

Even in Athens, Paul targeted the places where he had the most influence. He was strategic!

Application: Christian, where do you have influence that I do not? Every single Christian in this room has influence in some place that I do not.

Family

Neighbors

Coworkers

But fear often keeps us silent.

I know.

The fear of man often keeps us silent. But that doesn’t change the fact that you have influence somewhere.

Use it. Leverage it. Deepen your relationship with that person or those people and tell them who God is. Tell them that God loves them and wants to save them so that they can know the joy of knowing Him personally.

Where did Paul and his team turn the world upside down? Wherever they would have influence. Secondly…

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Wherever they would find the public - Acts 17:17.

Read Acts 17:17.

In the Grecian culture of the New Testament, the market was the public gathering place.

Of course, goods were sold there.

Transactions were conducted there.

Public trials were held there.

It was a natural gathering place for the locals because that’s where business was conducted.

Who else could you find at the market in Athens? Paul. He probably stayed busy making tents while talking with people about the Lord. He was a tentmaker by trade.

Application: As much as possible, Christians need to step out of their sheltered buildings and into the public forum. It’s amazing to see how America has changed as Christianity has hunkered down in its buildings and secular humanists have overtaken the public square.

What public spaces are you a part of? Go be a Christian there.

Go be a Christian! - whether you’re part of a club, a neighborhood gathering, a community event, a political event, or anything else, go be a Christian there!

I won’t pretend to have all the answers for all the situations that may arise or questions that you may face, but I do know this: you will never turn a pagan world upside down by staying in the closet! That’s not how Paul and his team got it done. Don’t let fear silence you.

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Wherever they would receive divine opportunities - Acts 17:19-21.

Read Acts 17:19-21.

Paul was ushered to a hill in Athens called Areopagus. It was the place where Athen's highest court would gather. It was like their Supreme Court. Intellectuals and lawyers were attracted to this hill as a place of debate and discussion.

This was obviously a God-given opportunity for Paul to speak on behalf of Christ. Most of the Athenians would not believe on Christ, but look at verse 33-34.

Read Acts 17:33-34.

A few individuals wholeheartedly followed Paul and believed what he said, including Dionysius, one of the Supreme Court justices.

Paul got this opportunity because he was already trying to make a difference in other places, so God opened up this door for Paul.

Conclusion

This was how Thessalonica, Berea, and eventually much of Greece became a world that was turned upside down. For the Jews that rejected their Messiah and for the pagans that continued in their idolatry, it was a terrible thing to behold. These Christians would be a threat to livelihoods as they would no longer support the local economy and buy idols or make sacrifices. They would not bow at the altar to Caesar. They would preach righteousness and moral living. But for those that trusted Christ, they were eternally grateful that God sent Paul and his team across the water to Europe and turned it into A World Upside Down.

Romans 1:16 KJV 1900

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Read slowly:

Christian, God’s power for turning the world upside down is found in the Scriptures. So surrender to God. Let Him use you to make a difference in our community as you exercise the power of the Scriptures.