Acts 16-28

Welcome/Intro

Hello my friends! So glad that you are here this weekend.

Hey: if this is your first weekend with us, that’s great—but, heads up: you’re hopping on a ride that we’ve been on for the last 6 weeks as we’ve been journeying through the book of Acts together.

But I promise you, that’s ok; you aren’t going to feel lost—at least, you’re not going to feel any more lost than the rest of us.

Because here’s the deal:

Acts has 28 chapters. And so when we planned each weekend of this series, we divided the book up into about 2-3 chapters each weekend… but that’s left us 13 chapters to cover this weekend—chapters 16-28.

Not a joke.

So… hope you had a snack. Because we’re gonna be here through at least the first slate of NFL games.

(No… we won’t.) But here’s why we did that—here’s why we left so many chapters to cover this weekend:

Overview of Paul’s 2nd and 3rd Missions Trips

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Acts 16-28 details Paul’s second and third missions trips to various cities across the Roman empire, starting churches that he later strengthened with repeat visits and occasional letters (called “epistles”) that now form much of the New Testament.

You’ll get a feel for thes real people in real places.

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Last weekend, Pastor John talked to us about this big meeting that the leaders in the early church had in Jerusalem. Paul had been traveling on his first missions trip outside of Jerusalem and Judea, preaching the gospel, and watching God send his Holy Spirit to people who responded with faith and repentance. No matter where in the Roman Empire he went, he watched God draw people to Jesus.

But this caused quite the uproar back in Jerusalem, which for millennia had been the place and the people where God lived and dwelled (or so they thought). And so Paul travels back to Jerusalem, meets with these Jewish leaders (led by Jesus’ half-brother, James), and they have to come to a consensus on (basically) whether or not what Paul is doing is “sanctioned,” so to speak.

The question in Acts 15 that they had to wrestle with was this one:

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Do we as leaders of Jesus’ church (in Jerusalem)…

Give our blessing to Paul

As he invites non-Jewish people to be a part of God’s family

Through faith in Jesus instead of through keeping the Law?

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(“Big L” law…)

And their answer was:

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Yes! Because:

They seem to have God’s Spirit.

Repent (instead of be circumcised) as the sign of genuine faith.

Continue to embrace God’s moral and ethical commands.

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And so once Paul gets that green light, that man is off to the races. Take a look at this from Acts 16:4:

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Acts 16:4–5 “As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.”

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He’s already got one missions trip under his belt; came back to Jerusalem; got their blessing… and then chapters 16 through the rest of the book detail his second and third trips. Real places; real people.

Here’s a brief overview of these chapters and trips. Go ahead and take pictures of some of these slides if you want; nobody’s gonna judge you:

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Paul’s Second Missions Trip: Acts 15:36-18:22

Acts 16: Jersualem up through Syria to Cilicia, Lystra & Derbe (Galatia)

Acts 17: Thessalonica, Berea & Athens

Acts 18: Corinth, Ephesus & back to Caesarea

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Paul’s Third Missions Trip: Acts:18:23-28:31

Acts 18:23: Jerusalem/Antioch, Galatia & Phrygia

Acts 19: Ephesus

Acts 20: Macedonia, Greece, Philippi, Troas & Assos

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Acts 21: Jerusalem

Acts 22: Prison in Jerusalem

Acts 23: Prison in Caesarea

Acts 24-26: Various trials in Caesarea

Acts 27-28: Prison in Rome

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The Pressure Pattern

So: if you were to sit down and read chapters 16 through the end of the book, you’d see something that I’m gonna call “the Pressure Pattern.”

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The Pressure Pattern:

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As they travel from city to city, Paul and his companions are going to encounter pressure from two sides—sometimes from Rome, and sometimes from religion:

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The Pressure Pattern

Rome and Religion

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Now, here’s what we mean by “Rome:”

Rome was people’s national identity. It was Roman culture and values; Roman leaders and government; the Roman economy and national security. It’s Roman patriotism and Roman heritage.

As Paul travels throughout the various cities in much of the Roman empire, on Roman roads, on Roman ships, into Roman ports, sometimes in Roman theaters or civic centers, he’s going to say things about Jesus that some people hear as, let’s just say, “un-Roman.”

You’ve probably heard people in our country, especially as the election is now just days away—

You’ve probably heard people say that someone’s ideas or policies are “un-American.” And whatever they mean by that, what they’re trying to say is: “You’re a threat to the country that I love. Whatever you’re suggesting or saying or doing…. it’s bad for our country.”

Paul is going to bump into that kind of pressure from the Roman side a lot in his travels.

But he’s also going to bump into a lot of religious pressure as well.

Sometimes it’s from religious Romans who don’t like what he’s implying about Apollo or Artemis or their fortune tellers or… whatever.

But other times it’s going to be from people who believe in God but don’t believe what he’s saying about Jesus, or the Jewish faith; insiders who feel like he’s saying things that are heretical or unbiblical. And they’re going to put pressure on him as well.

Acts 16-28 are going to reveal this pattern of pressure that Paul’s going to encounter as he tries to spread the gospel or the message about Jesus. Pressure from Rome and Roman patriots; and pressure from religion and religious people.

And it’s a pattern—because not only are you going to see it in Acts; but once you see it, you’ll start to see the same pattern even today.

So here’s what I’m gonna ask you to do with me: follow along as we hop through these chapters to see this pattern. We’ll have the verses on the screen as well. But dig into it with me if you could.

Let’s start in chapter 16, verse 16:

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Acts 16:16–18 “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.”

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Acts 16:19–21 “When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

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These guys are “un-Roman.” They “hate our country.”

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Acts 16:22–24 “The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

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Ok. So there’s some pressure, right? And that’s an example of some Roman religious pressure; kind of a combination of both kinds. But probably more Roman than religious; those guys weren’t concerned for people’s souls, but for their own pocketbooks. Jesus wasn’t great for the Roman economy and Roman tradition.

Jump down to chapter 17 with me. Verse 1:

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Acts 17:1–3 “When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.”

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Acts 17:4–5 “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.”

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Acts 17:6–8 “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.”

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So, what starts as religious pressure from Jews who feel like their faith and religious convictions are being called into question | turns into Roman pressure as Paul and his buddies get accused once again of being “un-Roman” and breaking Roman law.

These people knew exactly which Romand and religious puppet strings to pull in order to get the response they wanted. And pull them they did, much to the discomfort of Paul and his message.

In chapter 18, some of the same pattern emerges in Corinth. Take a look at verse 5:

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Acts 18:5–6 “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

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Go down to verse 12:

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Acts 18:12–13 “While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

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More religious pressure from the Jews.

In chapter 19, Paul does a bunch of healing miracles and exorcisms in Ephesus, demonstrating true spiritual power. But this undermines the main tourism draw and local economy in Ephesus, which was centered around the great Temple of Artemis. Paul’s basically proving that there is a real and really powerful God, and he’s not the one you’ve built that massive temple to.

Take a look at verse 23 in chapter 19:

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Acts 19:23–25 “About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.”

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Acts 19:26-27a “And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited…

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In other words: this guy is teaching things that are tearing at the very fabric of our country. And if we don’t take a stand right now, there won’t be any country left to save.

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Acts 19:27b–29 “and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together.”

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More religious and Roman pressure.

As Luke tells us the rest of Paul’s story, it’s more of the same pattern. Paul goes back to Jerusalem, gets accused of defiling the temple, gets thrown in Roman prison again, and is there for the rest of his days until he travels to Rome for his final trial.

This pattern of pressure. Rome and religion. Rome and religion.

Now, maybe as we worked our way through some of these, maybe you can start to see:

These same kinds of pressures are alive and well today.

But if you don’t want to take my word for it, and you want to find out for yourself, just do this:

Go onto any of your own social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, X… whatever. Go onto your preferred social media platform where you’ve got a bunch of personal connections, and post something like this:

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This election season, let’s make Jesus Lord over our party preference.

Let’s make sure we love our enemies.

Let’s bless those who curse us.

Let’s lend to all without expecting a return.

Let’s turn the other cheek.

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And then check back in about an hour to see what kinds of folks appear in your comments.

I’m sure you’ll get a few “amens.”

But my bet is that they’ll be at least a few “Roman” and “religious” pressure points there.

Someone will insinuate that you’re “un-American,” while another will tell you you’re not really taking a stand for Christ at all.

Roman and religious pressure is more alive and well today than maybe it ever has been.

Jesus’ Church, Today

But here’s the thing:

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Jesus’ Church was borne and formed out of Roman and religious pressure.

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Like a diamond, formed by intense pressure and heat, the church was formed and even grew out of the pressure of religion that sought to control it, and an empire that tolerated it as long as it remained subservient to the country’s priorities.

But the gospel doesn’t serve Roman or religious ends, nor does the church. It’s not for either of those.

The gospel is for everyone. And it serves King Jesus’ ends; his purposes alone.

And so, please, grab onto this:

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Jesus’ Church is at its purest and best

When it remains faithful and free

From the power of the empire

And the pride of religion.

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Loving your enemy | isn’t usually in the best interest of the empire.

Mercy | isn’t usually what religion and religious people are known for.

But both of those (and more) are mandates in this upside down kingdom that isn’t of this world.

The Way of Jesus… his kingdom… his church… is a place full of people who:

Realize just how poor they are without Jesus’ grace and forgiveness.

Aren’t hungry to be right, but to be right with God.

Understand that pursuing peace isn’t just an ideal, but a command.

Aren’t attached to their own security and comfort, but are foolishly and recklessly generous—especially with the people who don’t deserve it.

Now, none of those are great for building a country or even a church by some standards.

Tribalism, judgment, condemnation, fear, self-righteousness, pride, hating the right people… all of those are way more effective for building a platform and following and influence, whether Roman or religious in nature.

But if you want to know how Jesus’ Church grows,

It grows best when it’s pressured by all of those things,

But remains true to its king.

And when it does,

It stands in such sharp relief, such sharp contrast,

That the judgmental, fear-mongering, sky-is-falling, dark world actually starts to see the Light.

Optional Spiritual Direction

What does this mean for me?

Beware of messages that seem to indicate that Jesus’ church somehow depends on “Rome” (how things are going in our country).

Beware of messages that seem to be more religious than Jesus.

Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide a different picture than what’s so often put in front of our eyes. (think “He Gets Us” kind of ads/ethos)

Be reminded that a life of following Jesus means dealing with these pressures with truth, grace, love, courage, and humility. Paul didn’t fight, but he also didn’t back down. He stayed true to Jesus and his message despite the very real (and sometimes really painful) pressure from both sides. But God will be faithful, and you’ll be fruitful!