RDU Transformed...
Intro: Could start with a recap of last week… there is a problem… I have a dream… What does that dream look like? Why did we move here to RDU? To see God do something unique. something special, something significant for His kingdom… How does that happen? How does God transform a city? ? See the I dream of statements from the week before.
Paul and Silas and Timothy did not leave Philippi with their tails between their legs. They left at their own pace, saying good-bye to a marvelous new church that contained, among others, the wealthy Lydia and her family, the Philippian jailer and his household, and the ex-Pythoness clairvoyant.
“When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue” (v. 1). This was at least a three-day journey of about 100 miles. When they arrived, they found a thriving city of about 20,000. Unlike Philippi, there was a synagogue, where they went to minister first.
Thessalonica was an important city in this period, Macedonia’s largest port, capital of its old second district and now residence of the provincial governor.
In Thessalonica. As in Philippi, Paul establishes an important church in Thessalonica, to which he writes two of his NT letters. Paul preaches in Thessalonica on “three Sabbath days” (v. 2). How long Paul stays in the city after this is not clear, but persecution cuts short his ministry (v. 10; cf. 1 Thess 2:2, 17)
was “Thessalonica,” the capital city of Macedonia with a population of 200,000. It was a major port city and an important commercial center.
Soon Thessalonica was in an uproar, and these unruly men descended on the home of Jason like flies on meat. Luke goes on in verse 6: “But when they did not find them [Paul and Silas], they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials.” Paul and Silas were gone, giving the lynch mob an opportunity to pay them an unwitting but immortal compliment:
The world was turned wrong-side-up at the Fall and has being going in reverse ever since. So when men and women in Thessalonica were turned around by Christ, everyone else saw them as upside-down. A believer lives right-side-up in a topsy-turvy world.
John Powell in his best seller Fully Human Fully Alive says:
Fully alive people are those who are using all of their human faculties, powers, and talents. They are using them to the full. These individuals are fully functioning in their external and internal sources. They are comfortable with/and open to the full experience and expression of all human emotions. Such people are vibrantly alive in mind, heart, and will. There is an instinctive fear in most of us, I think, to travel with our engines at full throttle. We prefer, for the sake of safety, to take life in small and dainty doses.
Paul was driven by a burning desire to see his fellow Jews saved (Rom. 9:1–3; 10:1). Not surprisingly, then, according to his custom, he went to the Jews when he arrived in Thessalonica. Despite his frequent mistreatment at their hands, Paul never lost his passion for the souls of his people.
Paul had faced much Jewish opposition on his first missionary journey. On the island of Cyprus, he was opposed by the Jewish false prophet Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:6ff.). Leaving there, he went to Pisidian Antioch, where “when the Jews saw the crowds [listening to Paul preach], they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming” (Acts 13:45). Later, “the Jews aroused the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district” (Acts 13:50). They went to Iconium, where “the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles, and embittered them against the brethren” (Acts 14:2). Forced to flee Iconium (Acts 14:5–6), Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra, where Paul very nearly lost his life (Acts 14:19). In spite of all that, and his recent persecution in Philippi at the hands of Gentiles, Paul did not hesitate to courageously enter the synagogue at Thessalonica.
Six key words describe the evangelism of Paul and Silas in Acts 17:2–4, which will help us in constructing a biblical theology of evangelistic proclamation (see below).
(1) Paul “reasoned” (dialegomai) in the synagogues (v. 2). This Greek word occurs ten times in Acts 17–24 in reference to Paul’s ministry and became “a technical term for Paul’s teaching in the synagogue.”7 Scholars have not reached a consensus about the meaning of this term. In two of its other three occurrences in the New Testament (Mark 9:34; Jude 9) dialegomai has the idea of “argue, fight with words.” In Acts, however, “it approaches the meaning of give an address, preach.”
“explaining” (dianoigo) and “proving” (paratithemi). Dianoigo literally means to open, and the idea behind this word is well expressed in Luke 24:32: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” The subject expounded from the Scriptures was that “the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead” (Acts 17:3a).
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.
3. Luke has no vivid conversion stories to tell from Paul’s visit to Thessalonica, and he has already indicated at some length the kind of discourse that Paul would give in a synagogue setting (13:16ff.). He therefore contents himself here with a general summary of Paul’s evangelism.
We can be reasonably sure that the Scriptures used would include Psalms 2, 16, 110; Isaiah 53; and possibly Deuteronomy 21:23 (see 26:23 note).
Turned the world upside down is not quite the sense, however much we may like to think that this ought to be the effect of the gospel; ‘caused trouble everywhere’ (GNB) is the right meaning.
His words in Philippians 3:10—“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”—are as forceful an expression of love as any in the Scriptures. This was the driving force of Paul’s noble life.
His life was one of ongoing bravery and determination. The list of Paul’s sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11 is mind-boggling. If anyone questioned the apostle’s sincerity, he could point to the scar tissue on his face and back. He was willing to suffer for Christ and for others because he loved them. Regarding his people, the Jews, he said, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers” (Romans 9:3). To some of his converts he wrote, “… my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1). He loved deeply and royally.
Paul’s public ministry was three-pronged. First, he “reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” The Greek word translated “reasoned” is the root for our English word dialogue. There was exchange, questions and answers. He dialogued with them “from the Scriptures.
Further, there was “explaining,” as verse 3 indicates. This word literally means “opening.” A very strong word, Luke used it to describe the opening of the womb in Luke 2:23 (NASB) and in the twenty-fourth chapter for spiritual openings on the road to Emmaus:
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (vv. 31–32)
Paul was particularly noble in that he treated the people with respect and dignity. He did not demand that they swallow what he said simply because he said it. Em Griffin in his book The Mind Changers, in a chapter entitled “An Ethic for the Christian Persuader,” states:
Simply stated, [the standard] is this: Any persuasive effort which restricts another’s freedom to choose for or against Christ is wrong.
Thus, to the exposition Paul added “proving” (paratithemi),which means he carefully answered questions posed to him, responded to their objections, and demonstrated the validity of his claims.
Paul’s comment in 1 Thessalonians 1:9 indicates also that many of those converted were pagans: “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
The kingship of Jesus Christ is unlike that of the rulers of this world. He conquers with ambassadors, not armies; and His weapons are truth and love. He brings men peace by upsetting the peace and turning things upside down! He conquers through His cross where He died for a world of lost sinners. He even died for His enemies! (Rom. 5:6–10)
The world is not now as it was when God created it. The Fall of man, and God’s resultant curse on the earth and its environment, toppled it from its spiritual axis. Fallen man is now trapped in an evil world system that is hostile to God. Ours is truly a world turned upside down.
The universe, however, will not remain that way forever. Ultimately, the Lord of glory will return (Rev. 19:11–21), take back the earth (Rev. 5), and establish His sovereign rule over all of it (Ps. 2:6–8). The curse will be lifted, and the earth will be restored to something of its original character. Finally, after the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, the whole universe will be uncreated (2 Pet. 3:10–13; Rev. 21:1–4).
That does not mean God is standing idly by until then. Throughout redemptive history He has sent His messengers to proclaim the light of His truth to the lost, sin-darkened world. Such people upset the system and disturb the comfort of sinners, thus incurring their wrath. They turn things right side up from God’s perspective, but upside down from the world’s.
In virtually every city he visited he caused a disturbance. In fact, as chapter 17 opens, he has just left Philippi, where his ministry had upset the pagan Greeks. To his enemies, Paul was “a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world” (Acts 24:5).
The Thessalonian church was a spiritually reproducing church. Two of its members, Aristarchus and Secundus, joined Paul in his evangelistic work (Acts 20:4). Paul commended all the church members in 1 Thessalonians 1:8, because “the word of the Lord [had] sounded forth from [them], not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place [their] faith toward God [had] gone forth.” The Thessalonians used their strategic location on the Egnatian Way to spread the gospel far beyond their own city.
(5) The next two words, “persuaded” and “joined” (v. 4), describe the response to the message. The aim of apologetics is not simply discussion so that we can know what each other believes. Rather, it is to “persuade” (peitho). This verb is particularly relevant because Luke uses it seven times in Acts to describe Paul’s evangelism. In 2 Corinthians 5:11 Paul himself said, “We try to persuade men.” This use of peitho has been defined as “to convince someone to believe something and to act on the basis of what is recommended.” Such confidence in our message derives from the conviction that we are bearers of the definitive revelation from God to the human race. If the Creator and Lord of the universe has given a final message to the human race and we know it, then we must do everything in our power and within our principles to bring people to appropriate that message into their lives. Evangelism, in other words, aims at a response, a response so comprehensive that it can be called a conversion.
As noted above, whenever the gospel challenges people to change their course of action, turmoil often results, instigated by those who reject this challenge (vv. 5–9, 13). Jesus predicted this in Matthew 10:34–36:
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
We must never forget that. Note what Jesus said: “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). The history of the churches in Macedonia teaches us that suffering is the matrix out of which strong and healthy churches can emerge.
Listen to the opening sentences of 1 Thessalonians, written a short time later:
You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it.
They were said to be “defying Caesar’s decrees.” This was a dangerous charge. To defy Caesar would be pure sedition. But what decrees were they defying? Probably the final clause in v. 7 is to be seen as an explanation of the charge. They were claiming that there was another king than Caesar—Jesus. This was virtually the same charge leveled at Jesus (cf. Luke 23:2–4; John 19:12, 15). Jesus claimed a kingdom not of this world, and Paul and Silas spoke of the same. But to a Roman, the charge sounded very much like a breach of the oath of loyalty that every person in the empire was required to render to Caesar. The magistrates had to take note of this charge.